Our Little Superman
by Forrestib
Summary: Team RWBY finds an infant Kal-El inside a meteor during initiation. How will Teams RWBY and JNPR handle the ups and downs of raising a baby that can sneeze bigger explosions than Ruby? Mostly point-of-departure AU. No pairings or shipping.
1. Players and Pieces

Author's Notes:

This was just a totally random idea that popped into my head. I felt like writing it, so I did. I hope someone at least gets a laugh out of it.

It's unbetad, but I gave it a quick proofread, so there shouldn't be too many typos or grammatical errors.

* * *

Blake lept over to the blonde brawler to report her findings, "It's tougher than it looks."

Yang reloaded her gauntlets and gave the order, "Then let's hit it with everything we've got!"

But they never got the chance. A meteor blazed across the sky. It hit the Nevermore and the Grimm fell to the ground in an explosion of feathers. The meteor smashed through the tower that RWBY had been standing on before burrowing into the ground near the cliffs.

Ruby was the last to land safely on a nearby bridge. She looked the same direction as the other three, towards the trail of smoke that had come from the sky.

Yang was the first to speak, "Well that was a thing."

Ruby nodded, "Yeah, the question is... what kind of a thing?"

The four wordlessly approached the crater. They saw a green crystalline structure at the center of it. Blake cautiously stepped closer and reached out with her palms open, "It's not even warm. We should be able to feel the heat from here."

Weiss looked at it curiously, "It's not Dust, at least not any kind that I've ever seen. Where did it come from?"

Yang looked up into the sky, "Nowhere nearby, that's for sure."

Weiss saw Ruby reach out to touch it and reached out to try and stop her, "Ruby, wait!"

When Ruby touched the surface there was an audible hiss, as if from a seal being broken. The top of the meteor started to lift off into the air.

There was a compartment inside. A red blanket was bundled up within. They were all already motionless but froze all over again when they heard a baby start to cry. The blanket was pushed aside by the rising of two tiny seemingly human hands.

Ruby picked up the baby, still wrapped in its bright red blanket, the same color as her cloak. She tried her best to comfort it.

Yang stepped closer and smiled at the mysterious child in her sister's arms.

Blake stayed perfectly still and stared at the new arrival unblinkingly as if it would explode at any second, "A baby."

Weiss looked at the baby, then the meteor, then the smoke trail in the sky, then the baby again, "Ok, what in the hell is going on?"

Yang rapidly glared daggers at her, "Hey, watch your language around the kid."

Weiss looked at her disbelievingly, "You miss my point. How is there a kid? Where did it come from?"

Ruby looked up at Weiss, "It is a he. He came from a meteor that fell from the sky. Pay attention."

Yang looked up at the smoke trail, "You can thank the little guy for taking out the Nevermore for us on the way down too."

It was then that JNPR arrived at the crashsite and saw the strange meteor next to Ruby... who was holding a baby.

Jaune and Pyrrha simply froze, trying to process and interpret what they were seeing. Ren raised a questioning eyebrow at the entire situation. Nora might not have even noticed the meteor with how instantly she focused entirely on the baby. Her face lit up and she squealed as she ran over to acquaint herself with the tiny newcomer.

Jaune remarked to Pyrrha, "Um, how long exactly did we take to get here?"

Pyrrha looked at Ruby holding the baby, "Not long enough."

Ren looked at the opening in the center of the meteor, "Did the baby come from the meteor?"

Blake nodded absentmindedly.

Ren commented, "It looks human."

Blake nodded again.

Ren looked at the baby again, "Hm."

Jaune carefully approached the trio that was ogling over the tiny creature in the red blanket, "Ehehe, I'm sorry to interrupt, but are we sure that the creepy space baby that fell from the sky isn't radioactive or diseased or something?"

Weiss and Blake promptly took a large step backward.

The three closest, Ruby, Yang and Nora, momentarily paused. Yang looked at Jaune, and then at the meteor, and then back at the baby, "He's actually got a point. We should get little Clark here to a doctor back at Beacon. We have no idea what being inside that meteor might have done to him."

Blake glared at Yang, "Clark? You named it?"

Ruby held Clark defensively, "Of course she named him! He's a baby. We found him, so we get to name him."

Pyrrha asked Yang, "Why Clark?"

Yang answered, "My gramps had an uncle named Clark who lived out in the country. This little fella reminds me of the stories about Clark."

Ruby looked at Yang, "Why?"

Yang shrugged.

Ren sighed, "Well, we have to call him something until we find out what his real name is, if he even has one."

Weiss exchanged a look with Ren and then looked up into the sky. Weiss continued his statement, "If we can even call it a he."

Ruby started to walk out of the crater. Everyone besides Yang and Nora parted like the red sea to avoid proximity. Yang and Nora followed closely behind.

Ruby looked up the cliffside, "Why don't we split up. Half of us can take Clark up to the school to see a doctor and the others can stay behind and see if they can't move the meteor."

Yang spoke up, "Maybe it should just be us and Nora that take Clark up. If there is radiation to be worried about we're the only ones likely to already be contaminated."

The Nevermore burst out of a pile of collapsed rocks nearby. It rose into the air and screeched. Everyone who wasn't carrying a baby pulled out their weapons. The Grimm hurled a volley of feathers at the three huddled around Clark.

The feathers never hit their target. A bright red blast erupted into the sky, incinerating the feathers and the giant bird itself in the blink of an eye.

Everyone present immediately looked to the source of the mass destruction, the glowing red eyes of the baby in Ruby's arms. There was a long silence.

Jaune was first to speak, "Uh, what?"

Weiss was next, "I'm sorry, but I'm with him. Just... what?"

Blake calmly answered both of them, "Clark killed the Nevermore just by looking at it."

Nora threw her arms up into the air, "WooHoo! That was awesome! His name is Clark and all will fear his laser face!"

Ren looked at Clark worriedly, "She's right. That much power will scare almost anyone. People will call him a monster, or worse, they may try to weaponize him. The future of the world may very well be literally resting in Ruby's hands right now."

Ruby looked down at Clark and smiled, "He's not a monster. He's a man, our little man of tomorrow."

Pyrrha looked up at where the Nevermore had once been, "More like our own little Superman."

Yang looked worried, "I don't think we can let a doctor see Clark. If they do they might not give him back."

Weiss was shocked, "And? Would that be such a bad thing? He'd be with experts and professionals. What makes you think we're any better suited to raise some sort of Superman?"

Jaune chimed in, "We may not be, but at least we know that we have Clark's best interests at heart. If the government gets ahold of him they might try to raise him as their own one man army."

Blake nodded, "They'll do a lot worse than that if they get it into their heads that his abilities might be something that they can replicate. We have to keep his origin a secret."

Ren frowned, "That won't be easy if he can blast the side of the school open on a whim."

Ruby held Clark closely with a determined expression, "Well it doesn't seem like we have much of a choice."

Weiss sighed, "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right. I'll need to get some supplies from the city."

Ruby nodded once, "Right then. Jaune, go with her."

Weiss exclaimed, "Wait, what?"

Ruby continued, "Yang, Nora and I will take Clark up the cliffs. The rest of you can try to relocate the meteor, somewhere hidden, but still easily accessible. The crater and smoke trail are suspicious enough without anyone seeing the empty compartment where we found him."

Pyrrha thought for a moment, "I think I know just the place if we can get it there."

Blake, Pyrrha and Ren stayed behind to move the meteor while the others set out for the top of the cliffs.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Ugh, I don't know what I'm thinking. I have too many stories going already. I'm just gonna tell ya'll this now, this story might be discontinued at any moment with no notice. There are a few chapters I already have written, so I'll publish those, but I make no promises to write any more.

Another thing is that some characters *cough* Weiss *cough* might behave a bit OOC at times. This is mostly because I wanted to avoid just rehashing all the same interpersonal conflicts that were in the original show, because reading a bad novelization isn't what any of us come here to do.

With that out of the way, the next chapter will be published whenever I feel like proofreading it. In the meantime, feedback is always appreciated.


	2. The Badge

Hiding Clark from the teachers proved to be a difficult problem to solve. Eventually they decided to pretend Ruby was injured and have Jaune carry both her and Clark, hidden away wrapped inside Ruby's cloak.

They walked up to Glynda and Ozpin at the top of the cliffs.

Glynda looked at Ruby in Jaune's arms, "Is she injured? What happened?"

Ruby put on a pained expression and shifted her visible hand to clutch her side, "It's nothing really, just a scratch. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

Ozpin suggested, "Maybe you should take her to the hospital. If she's badly hurt a doctor could help the healing process go a lot quicker."

Jaune nervously argued, "No, It's fine. She'll be fine, really. There's no need to get doctors involved."

Ruby heard Clark start to cry and let out her own cry of pain to mask the sound while she shifted Clark to a more comfortable position. Glynda and Ozpin looked at her worryingly. She and Jaune gave them big toothy grins and Ruby gave them a thumbs up.

Glynda seemed about to insist when Ozpin interrupted her, "Well I suppose it is your decision. I won't force you to seek medical attention if you don't want to. Just be careful. I'd hate to lose such a promising young Huntress in training as yourself."

Ruby gave a genuine smile at the headmaster, "Thank you. I'll be fine. I'll get help if I need it."

The teachers seemed somewhat comforted by that and the group walked away towards the school.

Glynda turned to Ozpin and spoke quietly, "I don't like this. The interference from that meteor disabled all our surveillance. We have no idea what's happening down there and now one of our students is injured because of it. Who knows how many more students could be in danger. Some of them might die if we don't do something."

Ozpin answered her, "What would you have me do? We can't interrupt or reschedule initiation after it's already begun. We haven't had to interfere with initiation to prevent the death of a student in over a decade. As far as we know there's no extra threat posed to the students by the meteor. We will simply wait for all the students to return to us and then we will send a team out to recover the meteor and prevent any further damage it may cause."

Glynda questioned, "And if all the students don't return?"

Ozpin grew somber, "Then come nightfall we will launch a full search party until they are found. If it's too late, then we can retrieve the body and notify their next of kin."

Glynda sighed and looked out into the forest, "Understood."

* * *

Pyrrha wedged her shield underneath the meteor. Blake attached Gambol Shroud to the shield. The two of them plus Ren pulled on Gambol Shroud's string, dragging the meteor slowly across the ground.

After almost a minute, Blake gave up and detached her weapon from the makeshift device, "We're never going to get it anywhere this way. Besides, we're leaving a clear trail for anyone to follow. We need to rethink our strategy."

Ren began to examine the meteor closely.

Pyrrha turned to Blake, "So how would you suggest we go about that? It's too heavy for any of us to lift. We can barely all drag it along the ground working together."

Ren tapped one of the crystal outcroppings, making a distinct ringing sound.

Blake gestured towards the meteor, "Well it's not like this plan is getting us anywhere. We barely got it out of the crater. How do you expect us to drag it all the way across the forest? It would take days at this rate."

Ren removed one of the crystals from its slot in the structure. Several other crystals lit up with patterns in response.

Pyrrha held the bridge of her nose, "Ok, let's think about this. Maybe we could figure out some sort of slingshot mechanism using..."

Ren placed the removed crystal in a different slot and a deep hum silenced any conversation as the meteor began to gently float just above the ground. Ren nudged the meteor with one finger and it glided effortlessly through the air.

Blake looked very impressed, "How did you do that?"

Ren smiled and shook his head, "I have no idea."

* * *

The group that had returned to the school split up as planned. Weiss and Jaune left to get supplies that they would need from the city while Ruby, Yang and Nora tried to figure out a slightly more sustainable way to hide Clark.

They eventually managed to convince the school hospital to give them a wheelchair without a medical examination. Ruby volunteered to confine herself to the wheelchair until they were given dorms. They hid Clark in the basket that was built into the side of the chair, covered by Ruby's cloak.

Pyrrha, Ren and Blake returned not too long after that. Yang asked them, "Hey! You finally made it. So how did you manage to move the meteor? Was it lighter than it looked?"

Blake answered, "Heavier, actually. Lucky for us Ren managed to activate some sort of anti-gravity engine."

Ren commented, "I found a control panel of sorts. I was just doing stuff at random with the interface. In hindsight It's pretty lucky that I didn't blow something up on accident."

Pyrrha continued, "We can't be sure, but we think the meteor is actually some kind of spaceship."

Blake asked, "Where's Clark?"

Ruby momentarily lifted her cloak to uncover the sleeping baby in the basket on the side of her wheelchair.

Pyrrha nodded, "Ok, so that's why you're in a wheelchair. I was about to ask about that."

Ruby raised a hand, "Ok, wait, so the meteor is a spaceship."

Ren confirmed, "Yes."

Ruby looked at Clark, "Then that means Clark is an alien after all."

Pyrrha agreed, "Most probably."

Blake gave her own opinion, "There's still a small chance that this is some sort of attack by one of the other kingdoms. They could have genetically engineered an unstable child with immense power and put it on a one-way trip to Vale. Once it landed it would only be a matter of time until it accidentally destroyed Beacon, if not the whole city."

Yang looked skeptical "That seems pretty inefficient. Couldn't they just send the meteor with a deadly disease inside? or maybe just a bomb?

Blake contested, "But the second a disease was detected there would be quarantine procedures put into place. Besides, with all the transport between kingdoms they would likely infect themselves as well. A bomb would just cause the area to be evacuated and a specialist team would be the only casualties. On the other hand, if you send a baby, the enemy does exactly what we're doing now. They try and protect it. They bring it home, bring it inside, into the city, right where it can do the most damage once someone sets it off."

Ruby laughed, "I think you're being a little paranoid, Blake."

Blake relented, "Perhaps."

A few hours later Weiss and Jaune returned with diapers, formula and other supplies that they would need. They hid the supplies in Jaune's locker. The eight of them then reported to the team assignment ceremony. JNPR was declared with, surprisingly enough, Jaune as leader.

Ozpin invited the final four up onto the stage, "And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will be known as Team RWBY. And for her display of valor and sacrifice, the honor of leadership will go to Ruby Rose."

Weiss looked with shock between Ruby, her wheelchair and the headmaster. Yang looked with trepidation at Weiss' reaction. Ruby didn't know whether to be happy at being made leader or horrified at getting the position for the wrong reason.

Ozpin continued, "There is another matter I feel I should mention. One of the students did not return from initiation this year. Velvet Scalatina remains unaccounted for. The school has released numerous search parties into the forest, but if they don't find her by morning, I fear it may be too late. All things considered, it looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year."

Weiss didn't say anything after they got off the stage. She quickly looked up where their dorm was and then left without telling anyone where she was going.

Ruby almost tried to roll after her until Yang put a hand on her shoulder, "Ruby, wait. You have to give her some time. I think we could all use some time to think. None of us saw any of this coming."

Blake nodded, "It's been a long day. I think we'll all need plenty of sleep tonight. It's another big day tomorrow."

Ruby nodded, looking out at where Weiss had gone.

* * *

Author's Notes:

So in case people hadn't noticed, our main characters aren't going to be quite as invincible in this story. They can get injured and they can go missing. I've also decided that the bad guys are going to be a bit more competent this time 'round. That along with having to raise a baby basically means the lives of RWBY and JNPR are going to be a lot more difficult.

But, it's also a comedy story. So nothing too bad is gonna happen (probably).

I've already written this story up until the events of the end of Volume 1. I'm thinking if I keep writing this, which I might not, I'll probably catch up with where we are in the show and then just write a new chapter whenever there's a new episode. I can handle writing an extra 12-16 chapters of content each year. The continuation of this story is seeming a bit more likely (but still no promises).


	3. The Burden

Author's Notes:

There was some debate in my mind as to how Clark's powers would arise over time. Most depictions of Superman have his powers increasing and revealing gradually over the first two decades or so of his life, like in the series Smallville.

Eventually I realized that that would be boring as heck since that would mean they were basically just raising a normal baby. Besides, I already did the laser face gag. So I guess in this story Clark probably already has most of his powers as a baby.

The fact that he hasn't accidentally destroyed the planet falls under the category of something called "suspension of disbelief". It's something that any Superman story requires in spades, so I'd recommend that you look into it if you don't have any of it already.

* * *

Jaune went to retrieve the supplies from his locker. He found it and input the combination. He was emptying them into his backpack when he heard a voice behind him, "What would you need with a package of diapers? Did your parents never potty train you?"

He turned around to see Cardin, "What? no, that's ridiculous."

Cardin smiled malevolently, "Then why do you have them? Don't tell me you've gotten that red-headed bitch pregnant already. I mean I knew she was easy just by looking at her but I thought it'd take at least a week."

Jaune dropped his backpack and his fists clenched.

Cardin laughed, "Looks like you dropped something there. Here, let me get it for you."

Jaune hunched over forward after Cardin punched him in the stomach.

Cardin spoke nonchalantly, "Oh, I guess you've got it. Ok then. I'll see you around, diaper-boy."

Jaune picked up his backpack and walked away, "If you're going to insult me, I prefer vomit-boy."

When he met up with the others he discreetly handed his backpack to Ruby before the teams went to their separate dorms for the night. Back in Team RWBY's dorm, Ruby took out the supplies and hid them under her bed. Clark seemed perfectly comfortable sleeping in his basket, so the team collectively decided against waking him. Weiss arrived at the dorm later than the rest and flopped into her bed without so much as a look at any of the others.

Ruby awoke in the middle of the night to the sounds of a crying baby. When she heard groaning from around the room she realized she must not have been the only one woken up.

Weiss was the first out of bed. She walked across the room and picked Clark up from below the arms, tilting him this way and that in a very undignified manner, "Where's the off switch on this thing?"

Yang and Ruby quickly crossed the room and took Clark out of Weiss' hands. Ruby rocked him gently and Yang sang a song,

_"Close your eyes. Don't you cry. Love surrounds you. In time you'll fly."_

After she had sang the song three whole times she threw her hands up, "That's it. I give up. Why won't he stop crying?"

A muffled resemblance of a voice came from under Blake's blanket, "ha enium ed m ye"

Weiss told, "We can't hear you."

A head with a bow barely poked out the top of the covers, "Has anyone fed him yet?"

Ruby instantly handed Clark over to Yang and started digging through the supplies under her bed for baby formula. She found it and quickly loaded it into the bottle and carried it over to Clark. They gave the baby the bottle and he latched on, drinking greedily, and more importantly, silently.

Weiss collapsed back into her bed, "Oh thank goodness."

Everyone awoke again a few hours later when they heard Clark crying again.

Ruby groaned, "What is it this time?"

She and Yang got out of bed again and walked over to tend to Clark. When Ruby reached down to pick him up she heard a steady dripping sound. She looked and saw a liquid dripping out from the folds of the blanket. She retrieved the package of diapers from the bag of supplies and quickly went about attempting to put Clark into one of them. Yang turned the light on to try and help.

No sooner had the light come on than an arm had stuck out of Blake's bed and groped the bedside table for her weapon. Once it was gripped it was promptly pointed at the ceiling and fired once. Her head poked out again, "Turn the light off."

Clark started crying even more at the sound of the gunshot. Ruby complained, "Blake, you're not helping."

Ruby and Yang hurried about putting on Clark's first diaper. After that they put his blanket, which seemed to be waterproof, in the hamper. They then cleaned the pool of urine off the floor and turned the lights back off to get to sleep. Ruby took Clark to her bed with her since the basket now had no blanket in it.

They slept the rest of the night.

The next morning they unpacked all their things and decorated their room. When the issue of bedspace was brought up they decided to try and jury-rig some bunk beds.

Yang was lifting one corner of what was to be Ruby's top bunk while Blake tied off a knot that would hopefully hold it in place.

Ruby saw Yang start to slip and jumped to try and catch the now falling bed, only to trip and wind up right underneath where it was about to land. She cringed and prepared for impact.

A blur flew across the room faster than the eye could see.

After a few seconds Ruby opened her eyes to see Clark, floating in midair, holding up the entire bed above her with one hand.

Clark dropped the bed to the side and it crashed into the floor, splintering into several pieces. Then he slowly descended back to floor level.

RWBY all looked at Clark for a good minute before any of them knew how to react. Ruby gently picked up Clark and smiled at him, "Saving people already. He's a natural born Huntsmen."

Yang spoke next, "I suppose we should have guessed that heat vision wouldn't be the only weird thing we'd have to deal with."

Ruby took the sheet from the broken bed and wrapped Clark in it before putting him back in the wheelchair basket.

Weiss asked, "Wait, you're not planning on taking him to class, are you?"

Ruby retorted, "Well we can't very well just leave him here all day. This way, at least if something happens we'll be there to protect him."

Weiss scoffed, "He caught that bed that by all rights should have crushed him into a pulp. Protect him from what?"

Yang answered, "From everyone else."

Blake continued, "Think about it. If we leave him here and he punches the wall off or burns down the forest, the authorities will get to him before we can even get the chance. If we bring him with us at least we'll be able to stop them from taking him away."

Ruby looked at Weiss, "We can't stop him from using his powers, but we can be there to help with the fallout when he does."

Weiss crossed her arms, "Well since you three have obviously already made up your minds about this, I guess I don't get a say in the matter."

Yang said, "There is the question of what we'll do in the long run. We can't pretend to have you confined to a wheelchair forever. How are we going to keep an eye on Clark a month from now when you'll have 'healed' from your imaginary injury?"

Ruby thought for a moment, "I think I can come up with something this afternoon once we're out of class."

When they left their dorm they saw JNPR with sad expressions. Yang ran up to them and asked, "Hey! What's with the long faces?"

Jaune responded by showing her a news feed on his scroll, "They still haven't found that student that went missing yesterday. They haven't even found any trace of her. If they don't find anything by the end of the day they're going to declare her MIA."

Ruby commented, "She'd be the first Beacon student to go missing in action during a controlled lesson in over a decade."

Blake looked sad, yet determined, "We should help them find her, later today, after class. Even if we just find a body at least her family will know for sure what's happened."

Ruby responded, "Well I'm not gonna be any help confined to this wheelchair. Besides, I've got some errands to run this afternoon."

Ren spoke up, "Weiss should go with you. She doesn't have any tracking or navigation experience, and you might need some help getting around the city in your current state."

That afternoon, Weiss and Ruby set out into the city. Ruby led them to an aisle filled with waste bins, flower pots and large bowls. As she rolled, searching for something, she decided that now was as good a time as any to talk with Weiss, "So, Weiss, why did you run off on us last night?"

Weiss took a while to answer, "I was upset because I would have been named leader if you hadn't been faking an injury. I feel like... I'm being held back from my full potential just because we found that stupid baby in that meteor."

Ruby thought for a moment before responding, "You know I doubt Ozpin took the decision lightly. I don't think things would have gone any differently if it were you in this wheelchair instead of me."

Weiss now had an angry edge to her tone, "Are you saying I don't deserve to be leader? Are you saying you're a better leader than I am?"

Ruby shook her head, "No, Weiss. I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that Yang and Pyrrha and Ren and even Blake all have what it takes to be a good leader. Ozpin picked me and Jaune for a reason. I don't know what it is yet, but it has to be there, somewhere. You probably would have made a better leader than me. I don't know why he didn't pick you. But I know that whatever his reason is, it has to be a good one. Otherwise you would have been chosen instead of me."

Weiss calmed down slightly, "You really mean that, don't you. You think I should have been the leader."

Ruby nodded, "I do. You would have made a great leader. You're already bossy enough for it."

Weiss playfully punched Ruby's arm, "Don't say things like that. I won't hesitate to hit a girl in a wheelchair."

Ruby raised her hands, "Hey! Don't make me sick Clark on you."

Clark laughed from his basket.

Weiss smiled, "I think I know why Ozpin picked you. You admit your failings. That's never been a strong suit of mine. I always have to be perfect. Like you said, every member of Team RWBY has the potential to be a good leader. But I think we need a leader who knows when to let someone else do something that maybe she could do on her own. I know that's not me. But I think it could be you."

Ruby gave a genuine smile to the heiress, "Thank you, Weiss."

Weiss smiled back as pleasantly as she knew how.

Ruby stopped her wheelchair in front of a woven wooden basket, "Here we go. I can carry one of these around with Clark in it once the wheelchair is out. If anyone asks I'll just say it's my lunch."

Weiss commented, "You know, I've been thinking. Someone's going to find out about Clark eventually. Wouldn't it be easier if we just told everyone? Obviously we can't tell them the truth, but we can certainly come up with something to explain why we might be carrying a baby around with us."

Ruby nodded, "That's a good point. I could say he's my cousin visiting from Smallville out in the country. I'll bring it up with the others when we get back."

They bought the basket, along with another package of diapers, and started to head back to the school.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I don't know why, but I always imagined Blake as being someone it would be unpleasant to awaken.

Weiss is a bit OOC, but like I said before, that's to stop the story from doing too much rehashing of the show. The conflict is still there, it's just a lot faster to resolve. A lot of that I credit to the fact that Team RWBY have been taking care of a baby together. That's something that's either going to draw people together like nothing else, or tear them apart irreparably. I'm going with the first one because I think it makes for a more interesting story.

The events of each chapter are roughly parallel to some events from episodes in the show, but not necessarily related. Next chapter marks the beginning of the dreaded "Jaune plot arc". It only lasts two chapters this time, so no need to pull out the pitchforks and torches just yet.

Same as before, the next chapter will be out whenever I feel like it. I've now written every chapter up to "A Minor Hiccup", so I'll be caught up to the show pretty soon. Hopefully I'll be at the point of writing and releasing chapters as the episodes come out by the time V2 E7 is out. Once again, this is a tertiary story for me, so no promises.


	4. Jaunedice

Author's Notes:

Well, here we are, another chapter. That's four now. That makes this my third longest story. I've also totally caught up with the show in the chapters I've written now. I'll probably try to stagger them out over the next few weeks. That way if some key plot point comes up in the show I can rewrite the previous chapters accordingly. Eventually I will be writing them as the episodes come out though.

I honestly have no idea what Velvet's personality is like based off the single line she's had in the show. So I basically interpreted her to be the character that I thought it would be most interesting for her to be in the context of this story. For those of you reading this from the year 2016 when we know everything about her, I apologize for the ignorance of my times.

* * *

Jaune was searching through the woods with Pyrrha. They had been looking for any sign of their rabbit-eared classmate for hours now. It was almost dark. Jaune saw the cave where he and Pyrrha had first awoken the Deathstalker.

He pointed it out to Pyrrha, "Hey, do you suppose she might be hiding out in there?"

Pyrrha looked doubtful, "I don't think so. It's too dark. She wouldn't be able to tell if there was any danger nearby. Anyway I hope she isn't there. That's where we hid the meteor."

A minute or so later, Jaune looked over and saw another search party going back where they had been. He alerted Pyrrha to it, "Do you think anyone else might search there and find the meteor on accident? Because I just saw another group headed that direction."

Pyrrha was about to answer when they heard shouting from that area. They quickly took off towards the voices. When they got there the group was at the mouth of the cave, about to enter.

Pyrrha quickly approached them and calmly dissuaded them, "We already searched there only a matter of minutes ago. The cavern is empty."

The other party leader gave the signal and the group got back on the trail.

After they were gone, Jaune started to enter the cave, "We should search the cave for real. Who knows, she might actually have found her way in here."

Pyrrha followed him in. Once they were deep enough inside a green glow was visible. They followed it and before too long they were in a large chamber lit only by the radiance of the meteor.

Also in that large chamber, was an unconscious bunny-eared Faunus girl.

Jaune ran up to the girl and checked her pulse, "I think she's still breathing, but she's definitely unconscious. We need to get her to the hospital, fast."

Pyrrha interrupted, "Jaune, wait. We don't know what she's seen, what she knows."

Jaune interrupted her back, "Would you have me just leave her here?"

Pyrrha remained silent.

Jaune nodded, "I thought not. Now help me carry her outside."

They "found" Velvet Scarlatina lying against a tree just outside the cave. The search parties were quickly notified of the success and everyone went home, all except for Jaune. Jaune stayed by Velvet's side all the way to the hospital.

When Velvet woke up, it was dark outside. She was in a hospital room with a tube sticking out of her arm. There was a strange boy in one of the guest chairs. He looked up, startled by the sound of her rustling the sheets.

She questioned him, "Who are you? Why are you in my room?"

The boy answered, "I'm Jaune. I was the one who found you in the forest. What do you remember?"

Velvet thought back to the floating green crystal in the cavern, "I was fighting a pack of Fleshbane and then I blacked out. I don't remember anything after that. I'm sorry, did you say you found me in the woods?"

Jaune nodded, "That's right. You were lying against a tree near a cave entrance. Did you go into the cave?"

She remembered the room filled with green light, "No, I never got the chance. I went unconscious before I could get to shelter."

Jaune paused for a moment and sighed, "Look, we both know that we're both lying. Why don't we start over? I'm Jaune Arc. I found you in the caves where me and my friends hid a spaceship we found during initiation."

Velvet smiled, "I'm Velvet. I was fighting a pack of Fleshbane until I escaped them by running into some nearby caves. I saw a floating green crystal that glowed and hummed. I was more injured in the fight against the Fleshbane than I had thought and passed out. Do you mean to tell me that crystal was a spaceship?"

Jaune shrugged, "We think it's a spaceship at least. That's what seems to make the most sense. Are you going to tell people about it?"

Velvet thought for a moment, "Not as long as you answer my questions. No more lies."

Jaune hesitated, "...Deal."

Velvet started asking, "Why do you think it's a spaceship?"

Jaune answered, "We found a baby inside."

"A baby?"

"Yeah, it looks for all the world like an ordinary human baby boy. But we know it's not. he has heat vision, can fly, and seems to be darn close to indestructible."

"I thought we agreed no more lies."

"We did. I'm not lying."

"You honestly expect me to believe that you found a baby in a meteor that can shoot lasers and fly."

"We call it Clark."

"I call it bullshit."

"I can call my friends in the morning. We can show you the baby in person."

"You said it looks normal."

"He does."

"Then how can I tell if it's just a regular baby that you're using to make a fool out of me?"

"You're just gonna have to trust me."

"I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were."

"I can't tell if this is too crazy to not be true or if you're just one of the dumbest pranksters I've ever met."

"To be fair, both are probably right."

Velvet sighed.

Jaune paused for a moment, "Tell me this, if this is all just some stupid joke I'm trying to pull, why on Remnant wouldn't I just have the baby with me when you woke up?"

Velvet held the bridge of her nose, "Either I'm the biggest sucker in the world or I've just stumbled into a whole new kind of crazy. Either way I need more sleep."

Jaune stood from his seat, "Of course. I'll stop by with Clark to see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Velvet."

Velvet waved, "Goodnight, Jaune."

Jaune was walking back to the dorms when he bumped into Cardin. He almost just kept walking until Cardin grabbed his arm, "Out a bit late, aren't we? I assumed it was Pyrrha you were spending your nights with, but apparently she's not the only one. Quite the ladies man, aren't you, Arc."

Jaune sighed, "What do you want, Cardin?"

Cardin pulled him by his arm to a place where he could look him in the eye, "I want you to do anything I want you to for all of first semester. Otherwise, I'll tell everyone what I've seen. You won't be able to leave your dorm without people whispering all sorts of nasty things about you whenever you're not looking."

Jaune did his best to not show his fear, "Cardin, I don't care if you do spread rumors about me. My reputation was as bad as it was ever going to get the day I arrived. My friends know who I am. Maybe you don't have enough friends to where you still need your reputation to make people like you, but I don't have that problem. Go ahead and make a big fool out of yourself because I don't have any secrets."

Cardin laughed as he let go of Jaune's arm, "That was good. I almost believed it. I'll be seeing you around, Jaune."

* * *

The next day, Jaune had to fess up to having told Velvet everything. The first time he saw Ruby in the morning he walked up to her, "Hey, Ruby."

Ruby smiled at him, "Oh, hey, Jaune. I heard you found that girl who was missing."

Jaune rubbed his neck nervously, "Yeah, about that, have you talked to Pyrrha today?"

Ruby answered, "No. Why do you ask?"

Jaune took a second to figure out his wording, "Well, the news didn't get the whole story. See, Pyrrha and I found her in some caves that just so happened to also be where the others might have hidden the meteor."

Ruby's eyes widened, "Did she see anything? How much does she know?"

Jaune looked at his feet, "Everything. She saw the meteor and then when I questioned her about it I had to tell her the rest to keep her from talking."

Ruby frowned slightly, "What do you mean, 'the rest'?"

Jaune's shoulders slumped, "I told her about Clark. She knows we found a baby in the meteor and that it has special abilities."

Ruby thought for a few seconds, "Well, as long as you can make sure she doesn't tell anyone else. You have to understand, she's your responsibility now."

Cardin walked by just as Ruby said, "If she lets our secret out, that's your mistake. No-one can know about our baby."

Jaune sighed, "Yeah, I know. I'll keep an eye on her. Anyway, I kind of promised her that she could meet Clark. Would you mind stopping by the hospital with me later?"

Ruby nodded, "Sure. I'd like to meet her anyway. But first I need to talk to Ozpin about Clark."

Jaune asked, "Didn't we agree to not do that?"

Ruby laughed, "Don't worry. I'm not going to say anything about the meteor or his abilities. I've already talked to the rest of my team about it. I'm just going to tell Ozpin that Clark is my cousin visiting from the country. That way we don't have to hide the fact that we're keeping a baby around."

Jaune nodded, "Right, then we only have to cover up that the baby is an alien with superpowers."

Ruby smiled, "Exactly. That at least sounds like something we can handle."

The two then joined up with the rest of the group and headed to their first class of the day.

* * *

Author's Notes:

So Cardin's still gonna make trouble. The difference is, this time Jaune has secret worth fighting for. He's not just protecting himself anymore.

If Jaune seems not quite as bumbling as usual in the scene with Velvet, you can chalk that up to him being majorly stressed out at the potential danger that Velvet posed. Compounded with the pressure of it being his sole responsibility to stop her from talking and the natural stress factor that comes with talking to a cute girl his age... I think you probably get the idea. He knew that conversation wasn't one that he could afford to mess up.

Starting with the next episode, the chapters kind of mesh into each other leading up until the equivalent to the end of Volume 1. That being said, cliffhangers work for building an audience. TNG's Best of Both Worlds proved that fairly conclusively. There are some that you might see coming. There's at least one I'm pretty sure you won't. For those of you here just for the laughs, I'm afraid there isn't gonna be a lot for you in the next few chapters. Sorry about that.

One thing about this story, I usually plan my stories like crazy with all kinds of charts and lists and outlines. But with this story, I'm not. I'm basically making this story up as I go. That means that it pretty much has a life of its own. It goes and does whatever the heck it wants and I just follow. The result is that I have to apologize in advance on behalf of the story for all the crazy places it might wander without my permission.

I guess the next chapter might be out in the next few days. I just need to proofread it first. I'll see y'all then.


	5. Forever Fall

Author's Notes:

And thus we reach the conclusion of the infamous Jaune arc from Volume 1.

You might notice some lines from the show have been given to different characters. That's partially to keep things at least slightly different, and also because whenever there were two people talking exclusively between themselves, I often found myself thinking about why no-one else was doing or saying anything.

* * *

Ruby saw Glynda in one of the hallways and quickly hurried to roll up to her, "Professor Goodwitch! I need to speak to you for a moment."

Glynda looked at her, "What is it, miss Rose?"

Ruby answered, "My nine-month-old cousin, Clark, Is visiting from out in the country for a while. Is it ok if he stays in my team's dorm while he's here?"

Glynda thought for a moment, "I don't see any reason against it. Just make sure your team is alright with it as well. Children of that age can be quite... disruptive to some."

Ruby smiled and started to roll away, "Understood. Thank you, Professor!"

After classes, Ruby and Jaune went back to the hospital, Clark still in Ruby's wheelchair.

Velvet sat up when she heard the door open, "Jaune, hi. It's a pleasure to see you again."

Jaune waved and walked in, "Hey, this is a friend of mine, Ruby."

Ruby rolled in, "Velvet, It's nice to meet you." She closed the door and lifted her cloak to uncover the sleeping baby, "I believe you wanted to meet someone. This is Clark."

Velvet looked at the baby in the basket. She looked up at Ruby and then back down at Clark.

Velvet smiled, "He looks so peaceful. He's beautiful."

Ruby smiled, "He's our little Superman."

Velvet looked up at Jaune, "Ok, I promise not to tell anyone anything about Clark or the meteor."

Jaune nodded in appreciation, "Thank you. That means a lot."

Ruby said to Velvet, "I told Goodwitch earlier today that I had a cousin visiting from the country. That's our cover story."

Velvet nodded, "Got it. Clark's your cousin, not an alien."

The three laughed at that.

Jaune and Ruby were headed back to their respective dorms when Team CRDL blocked their way through the hall.

Cardin smirked at Jaune, "So, this is your baby momma. She doesn't look like a whore, but I guess you can never really tell who the real crazies are at first glance."

Jaune stood between Ruby and Cardin defensively, "Cardin, back off. I mean it. You'll only be left broken and humiliated."

Cardin laughed, "Was that a threat? I'm surprised at you, Jaune. I didn't think you were capable of that kind of aggression. I'm impressed."

Clark woke up and started crying.

Cardin instantly shoved Jaune aside and revealed the baby in the basket, "I'll admit, even I wasn't expecting that. When I saw the diapers I thought you'd just gotten her pregnant, but no. The baby's already here. I bet your girlfriend here isn't even really injured. She's probably just been faking it to help hide your little lovechild."

One of the other members of CRDL held Jaune back while Cardin pushed Ruby out of her wheelchair onto the ground. Ruby faked a shriek of pain.

Ruby looked up at Cardin with disgust, "The baby is my cousin, visiting from the country. You can ask Glynda to confirm that. Jaune bought the diapers for me because I couldn't go to the city myself while I was in the hospital."

Cardin was shocked. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. He looked between the baby and Ruby and the wheelchair. Finally he looked up at Jaune almost apologetically.

Jaune looked Cardin right the eye and repeated, "Like I said, broken and humiliated. I think you should go."

Cardin ran away. His team was quick to follow. Once they were out of view Ruby stood up and climbed back into her wheelchair.

Jaune smiled at her, "That was a good performance back there."

Ruby grinned back, "Thanks."

* * *

The next week, Ruby "recovered" and was able to walk again with a pretended slight limp. A week after that she went back to walking normally. She began carrying Clark in the woven basket that she and Weiss had bought. The next several months passed by without incident. People eventually stopped questioning the baby's presence and just accepted that wherever Team RWBY went, Clark would follow.

Near the end of the first semester, the students from other schools were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Weiss asked for Team RWBY to go to the docks when the first ships came to "greet" the new arrivals. They obliged.

Once they got there Ruby saw a Dust shop that had been robbed. The four walked over and were told that the White Fang were suspected to be responsible.

Weiss crossed her arms and frowned, "The White Fang, what an awful bunch of degenerates."

Blake narrowed her eyes, "What's your problem?"

Weiss looked at her, "My problem? I simply do not care for the criminally insane."

Yang responded, "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're misguided, sure, but that doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

Ruby took the opportunity to change the subject, "She's got a point. The police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him."

They heard some commotion coming from the docks and ran over to see a monkey Faunus running away from two police officers. He ran right past them and winked at Blake with perfect timing.

Yang teased, "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes."

The four started to run after the Faunus boy.

Ruby hefted the basket over her shoulder and commented as they ran, "Clark's getting a little big for his basket. We might need to figure something else out pretty soon."

They turned a corner and the boy was gone. Weiss stopped so quickly that Ruby ran right into her. Clark's basket went flying out of Ruby's hands as a result of the collision. They watched it soar through the air until it was carefully caught by a girl that had been walking nearby. Ruby and Weiss quickly stood and dusted themselves off.

The girl walked over and handed the basket to Ruby, "I believe you dropped this."

Ruby took Clark and checked to make sure he was ok, "Thank you so much. If he'd been hurt I don't know what I would've done. I'm Ruby. This is Weiss, Blake and Yang."

The girl smiled at them, "Salutations! My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Ruby started to walk away, "Likewise. I'm sorry for the trouble. Take care, friend."

When they had been walking for a time Weiss looked around, "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?"

Penny surprised them all by speaking, standing right in front of the group, "What did you call me?"

Weiss immediately looked at the girl top to bottom trying to identify any Faunus features, "I wasn't talking about you. There was a monkey boy that we saw earlier and-"

Penny shook her head, "No, not you." She leaned in towards Ruby, "You called me friend."

Ruby smiled, "Yeah, I did. It's like Yang says, we're always surrounded with friends. We just haven't met them yet."

Yang asked Penny, "So, what are you doing in Vale?"

Penny answered, "I'm here to fight in the tournament. I'm combat ready!"

Weiss responded, "Wait, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

Penny tilted her head, "Who?"

Weiss grew frustrated, "The filthy stowaway from the boat! Is any of this ringing a bell?"

Blake formed fists, "Why are you calling him that?"

Weiss looked over at her teammate, "What?"

Blake almost yelled, "Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person."

Weiss almost laughed, "He clearly broke the law. Give him time and he'll probably join up with the rest of the criminals in the White Fang."

Blake snapped, "You ignorant brat! You are nothing but a judgemental little girl."

Weiss was genuinely confused, "What in the world makes you say that?"

The argument continued. The team began to walk back to the school. The quarrel kept on almost the whole way until finally it reached a head when they had just arrived in their dorm.

Weiss set aside Myrtenaster and sat on her bed, "I don't understand how this is causing such a problem."

Blake tried to explain, pacing across the floor of the room, "That is the problem. Why do you think the White Fang hate humanity so much? It's because of discriminatory people like you."

Weiss lost her temper, "I'm a victim! Do you want to know why I despise the White Fang? They've been at war with my family for years. I've watched family friends disappear. Every day, my father comes home furious. That made for a very difficult childhood. If I despise the White Fang, it's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

Blake immediately realized what she had just said. She panicked for a moment before running out of the room faster than anyone could stop her.

Ruby started to run after her, but it was too late, "Blake, wait! Come back!"

Clark started crying. Yang walked over and started to comfort him to the best of her ability. She noticed him staring off at one of the walls, as if he was watching something moving. His arm stretched out and he pointed.

Then Clark spoke his first word, "Blake!"

* * *

Author's Notes:

I know, I know, Clark is a bit young to be talking already. He's Superman. He's got a perfect memory and can hear every conversation on the planet. He can see through people's lips to find out what they're doing with their tongues and teeth when they talk. If any baby ever is gonna figure out how to form a single word a few months early, it's Clark.

Some of Weiss' dialogue is rewritten slightly. She's not the same spoiled brat that she was before Clark came crashing into their lives. All of them have a changed a little bit, but her the most of all. She's grown up a heck of a lot more than the Weiss in the show had at this point in the plot.

Well, I guess since people are starting to show an interest I should probably start making promises. I'll keep writing new chapters for this story as new episodes are released until at least the end of Volume 2. After that, I'll see if there's room in my writing schedule. Until then, expect at least a chapter for each week that there's an episode.


	6. The Stray

Author's Notes:

This is it. We're down to the final plot arc of Volume 1. The fat lady is doing her vocal exercises in the dressing room backstage. Now it's almost about time to prepare to hear her sing.

* * *

Blake kept running until she reached the courtyard. She looked up at the massive stone statue. Did she fit better as the Huntress at the top, or as the monster that lay defeated down below? She reached up and carefully pulled off her bow, revealing the cat ears beneath.

She heard a voice behind her, "I knew you'd look better without the bow."

She turned around to see the monkey boy, the one who had winked at her on the docks.

Blake turned back around, "What are you doing here?"

the Faunus boy answered, "Well I couldn't just walk by and let a pretty lady cry by herself in the middle of night. But if you must know, I'm a student from Vacuo, here for the tournament."

Blake asked, "If you're a student why did you stow away? Don't they give free transport for people participating in the festival?"

He shrugged, "I thought it'd be fun. I was right. But enough about me. I wanna know more about you."

Blake brushed a tear away from her eye, "No, you don't."

The monkey Faunus walked around in front of her, "Oh, come on. You're story's sure as hell a lot more interesting than mine, at least from what I've seen, which isn't a lot."

Blake laughed lightly, "You talk a lot."

The boy looked contemplative, "Do I? I guess I do, don't I. I mean it's working though, right? You're cheering up a bit, I think, maybe."

Blake nodded, "Yes, I'm much better now. Thank you."

He gave a satisfied smirk, "Well there ya go. Talking a lot isn't so bad now, is it."

Blake looked up at the boy, "I never said it was bad."

He looked shocked, "Oh no! Where are my manners. I forgot to ask for your name."

Blake held out her hand for a handshake, "I'm Blake."

The boy took her hand and bent over to kiss it lightly, "Sun Wukong, at your service."

* * *

The next morning, Ruby awoke in their dorm to find Blake still missing. She quickly awoke her two teammates, "Guys, wake up. Blake's been gone all night. We have to find her."

Weiss waved it off, "She's a big girl. I'm sure she can take care of herself."

Yang hopped out of bed, "Weiss, come on. She's our teammate. Besides, I think I have an idea for how we might be able to know where she is."

Weiss sat up, "How do you plan to do that?"

Yang walked over and lifted Clark out of his basket. She put him in a sitting position in her lap.

She looked at Ruby, "Go stand out in the hallway."

Ruby walked over and opened the door to their dorm. She then stepped just outside the door.

Yang nodded, "Good, now close the door."

Ruby closed the door.

Yang looked down at Clark and asked him, "Clark, can you find Ruby for me?"

Clark's arm shot up and pointed at the closed door.

Weiss put her hands on her hips, "What's that supposed to prove? He's just pointing at the last place he saw her."

Yang looked over at Weiss and shouted to Ruby through the door, "Ruby, walk a bit down the hallway for me. Left or right doesn't matter, but don't tell us which." After a few seconds had passed Yang looked back down to Clark and said, "Ok, Clark, can you find Ruby again?"

Clark's finger pointed diagonally, off to the left.

Weiss looked at the baby with amazement.

Yang set Clark down in his basket and walked over to the door. She opened it and stuck her head out, "Ok, Ruby, you can come back in now."

Ruby entered the dorm. "What was all that about?"

Weiss answered, "Apparently Clark can see through solid objects."

Ruby looked at Clark, "What, like X-Ray? in the comics?"

Yang nodded, "Exactly. After Blake left last night he watched her running even after she was out of sight. I know he was watching her because he said her name."

Ruby looked horrified, "I missed his first word!?"

Yang patted her sister on the back, "Sorry Ruby. I know how much you were looking forward to that."

Weiss directed them back on topic, "Ok, so how do we use this to find Blake?"

Yang answered through actions. She picked up Clark's basket and leaned over to speak to him, "Ok Clark, I'm gonna need you to do this a couple more times. Find Blake for me. Can you do that?"

Clark pointed and spoke, "Blake!"

The team quickly packed up and left their dorm. They walked in the general direction that Clark had pointed for several minutes and then asked him again. He pointed a slightly different direction. They kept following his lead until they eventually saw Blake sitting next to the monkey-tailed Faunus boy and sipping tea.

* * *

Blake sighed and looked up at Sun, "So, you want to know more about me."

Sun's response was interrupted by Ruby as the rest of Team RWBY walked up to their table, "Blake! Where have you been? You had us worried sick, running off like that. What were you thinking?"

Blake sighed again. She spoke to her three teammates, "I think you all should take a seat."

The three new arrivals pulled chairs up to the now rather overcrowded table for two.

Blake started to explain, "I was once a member of the White Fang."

Sun did a spit take, accidentally ruining Weiss' dress. He almost started talking until Ruby held up a finger to indicate that he should let Blake finish.

Blake continued, "Actually, I was a member for most of my life. Back then, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity. But despite being promised equality, we were still subjected to discrimination, hate. The White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there, at the front of every rally. Then, a new leader came. Our peaceful protests were turned into organized attacks. We were finally being treated as equals, but not out of respect, out of fear. So I left. And here I am, a criminal, hiding with the help of a little black bow."

She wiggled her ears to show her teammates what she was talking about.

Blake looked to Weiss specifically, "Weiss, I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang. That being said, I-"

Weiss interrupted, "Stop! I don't want to hear it. You're not one of them anymore, so I don't care. I just want to know that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates."

Blake gave an uneasy smile, "Of course."

Yang tried to sway things towards a less emotional subject, "Well now that the team's back together, why don't we try and figure out who's behind all these Dust robberies? I think the best way to start would be to try and disprove the White Fang as a suspect. If we can't, then I think it's safe to say they did it."

Blake shook her head, "I still don't think it was them. Why would they need that much Dust?"

Sun gave his idea of a plan, "But what if they did? I mean, the best way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place that they would most likely be if they were to have done it, and not find them there, right?"

Weiss dropped her head down into her hands, "I think that just might be the worst plan ever, of all time."

Ruby responded, "I think it might be the only one we have."

Penny said, "And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today! Although there's a big stain on her dress. You might want to get that washed before it becomes permanent."

Everyone looked at the sixth chair that had mysteriously appeared at the table without anyone noticing.

Ruby asked, "Penny, when did you get here?"

Penny responded, "Just a few moments ago, when Sun was telling us his plan. So what are you up to?"

Yang answered, "We're trying to figure out who's behind the Dust robberies that have been going on the past few months."

Penny thought for a moment, "Well it seems to me like if you could predict when and where the next robbery would take place, you could go there and see who shows up to steal the Dust."

Sun nodded, "Right, that's what I said."

Weiss snarked, "Except that she sounded remotely intelligent when she said it."

Penny saluted with a smile, "They don't call me Brainiac for nothing!"

Sun frowned, "I think I might know where the next heist will be."

Blake asked, "Where?"

Sun smiled, "Well I overheard some guys on the ship talking about a big shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

Weiss nodded, "That's a Schnee Company freighter. I remember hearing about it a few weeks ago. It's supposed to be arriving at midnight, tonight."

Ruby smiled, "Then it's settled. We'll be at the docks tonight to catch them in the act. Then we'll find out once and for all who's responsible for these crimes."

* * *

Author's Notes:

So the fight at the docks is still gonna happen. It's just that this time, RWBY is gonna be a bit better organized about the whole thing. But as Less Wrong says, you can't make Frodo a Jedi unless you give Sauron the Death Star. In other words, don't think that the battle is going to be as one-sided as you might be tempted to expect.

New chapters out every week or so. I'll see you then.


	7. Black and White

Author's Notes:

Well, I wrote the chapter for "Burning the Candle" and it wound up being a lot shorter than I would like. So, I thought I'd ask if y'all have any ideas for possible storylines to run parallel with Volume 2. Go ahead and review or PM me with any suggestions. All ideas are welcome, although I make no guarantees to use any of them. I'll keep y'all posted on the chapters I'm writing as I release the ones I edit.

* * *

Team RWBY headed back to the school for the rest of the day. Ruby and Yang decided to take Clark to go visit Team JNPR in their dorm. Weiss and Blake both silently agreed to stay behind and talk it out.

Weiss started, "You know, you told me to stop calling Sun a degenerate, but I never called him a degenerate."

Blake laughed, "You called him a rapscallion."

Weiss nodded, "I was discriminating against him as a criminal, not as a Faunus. I guess you didn't quite pick up on that."

Blake confirmed, "Yes, I'll admit, I assumed you were bias against him because of his species. I thought that the heiress to the Schnee Dust empire had to share the bigotry of her company."

Weiss shook her head, "You know, we've been raising a child together for several months now that might not even be from the same planet as us. Looking back, it seems outright laughable to me now that something as silly and superficial as a pair of cat ears might matter to me at all."

Blake looked at her, "Looking back?"

Weiss explained, "When we first met, I was exactly what you believed me to be. I was every bit the inconsiderate brat. If I had found out what you were back then, I would have called the authorities and had you expelled without so much as a blink of hesitation."

Blake asked, "When do you think that changed?"

Weiss looked over at the cat-eared girl, "I don't know exactly. I guess it started a week or two after initiation. Actually, I remember now, I was feeding Clark on the first day of classes. I was looking at his face and he just looked… Anyway I realized that I had more reason to fear him than any Grimm or any Faunus on Remnant, and yet there I was, going out of my way to protect him. I guess after that the prejudice just sort of… faded away."

Blake smiled.

Weiss looked up at Blake's bow, "Why don't you take that thing off?"

Blake raised an eyebrow.

Weiss laughed, "We're alone behind a locked door. No-one is going to see anything unless there's someone hiding in the tree outside our window."

Neither of them heard the resounding crash of Sun Wukong falling off his perch hanging on one of the branches.

Blake reached up and hesitantly undid the carefully constructed black bow.

Weiss looked at the cat ears on top of her teammates head, "There, now isn't that more comfortable?"

Blake smiled, "Yes, thank you."

Ruby and Yang returned to the dorm, along with Team JNPR. Blake quickly redid her bow.

Ruby said, "We should probably head to the rendezvous point to meet up with Sun and Penny before the Dust shipment comes in."

Yang pointed back at Team JNPR, "Fluttershy and his Howling Commandos are coming along too. Once they found out what we were up to they insisted on helping. We can get Velvet to babysit Clark for us while we're all out."

Weiss walked over to Ruby and took Clark's basket from her, "Actually, I think I know a faster way we can meet up with those two. Clark, can you point me towards Sun?"

Clark's arm stuck out of the basket and pointed almost straight down and a bit towards the window.

Eight heads stuck out the window in perfect unison.

Sun looked up at them from the ground below, "Oh, hey guys. I was just trying to find the front entrance to the building. This school is a maze, am I right?"

* * *

A few hours later, ten people arrived at the docks to wait for a Dust shipment to arrive. They had decided to split into groups. Ruby, Weiss and Penny watched from a nearby rooftop. Blake, Yang and Sun hid in the shadows of a different building. JNPR was hiding behind various large crates on the docks.

Sun returned to his position alongside Blake and Yang, "Did I miss anything?"

Blake answered, "No, the shipment hasn't arrived yet."

Sun held an apple out to Blake, "I stole you some food."

Blake gave him a look, "Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

Yang teased Blake, "Weren't you in a cult or something?"

Blake glared daggers at her partner.

Yang held up her hands defensively, "Ok, too soon."

They were interrupted by a Scroll message from Ren that indicated the boat was about to land. They looked back out at the docks and saw the ship reach the docks. Not too long after that the workers started to offload large amounts of Dust. A few minutes later, an airship landed in the middle of the clearing. Several men wearing Grimm masks stepped off.

Blake looked disappointed more than anything, "It's them."

Yang sent the message through her Scroll to the others saying that the White Fang were in fact responsible. She said, "Alright, well, I can take a few pictures as proof and then we can go. We only came here to find out who was behind it. Our job here is-"

The three started watching the activities on the dock again when they heard a distinctive voice yelling orders to the White Fang, "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

Blake's eyes narrowed, "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one like that."

Blake pulled out her weapon and ran off on her own.

Yang cursed under her breath and spoke to the rest of the group over her Scroll, "Blake has engaged the enemy. I repeat, Blake has engaged the enemy. Our first priority is getting everyone out of this alive."

Blake appeared behind Roman and put her blade to his neck. She removed her bow and spoke her case, "Brothers and sisters of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?"

Ruby saw Roman's cane and remembered that it was his weapon from when she had fought him before. She spoke over her Scroll to the group, "Roman's weapon is his cane. We need to get it away from him before he tries anything. I don't have a good angle to make the shot."

Roman talked to her, "Look kid, the White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

Pyrrha responded to Ruby's message, "I'm on it."

Roman's cane was knocked out of his hands by a rifle bullet. His eyes darted around, trying to identify the location of the sniper.

Blake held Gambol Shroud a bit tighter up against Roman's throat, "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

A second airship roared its engines above them. One of the White Fang soldiers took the prime opportunity of distraction to line up a shot. He hesitated, not wanting to risk hitting Roman on accident. Roman saw the soldier and gave the slightest nod to his underling as he spoke, "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation."

The White Fang soldier fired his weapon, hitting Blake squarely in the shoulder.

Roman twisted Blake's arm until she dropped her weapon. Having worked out the probable location of the sniper, he promptly relocated to place Blake between himself and them, holding her arm painfully behind her back the entire time.

Pyrrha rapidly considered her options. She had lost her angle. She contacted the others, "I've lost the shot. Ruby, do you have it?"

Ruby responded, "No, I still don't have it."

Jaune spoke over the team channel, "Pyrrha, how accurately can you throw your shield?"

Ruby asked, "What are you thinking?"

Jaune answered, "Ruby, I hope you've brushed up on your geometry recently."

Roman spoke to the girl he was holding captive, "How many of your friends are out there?"

Blake refused to talk.

Roman twisted her arm a little further, "You know, I bet that bullet wound really hurts." He dug his finger into the bleeding hole in her shoulder, getting a pained sound in response.

Blake looked up at the crowd of White Fang soldiers around her. She kept looking until she had identified the one who shot her, a short, skinny boy, no older than 20, standing in the back with an ordinary magnum pistol.

She saw a glint of metal moving through the air above. She looked up and saw Pyrrha's shield flying through the air. Then, the shield made a loud noise, not unlike a gong. A deafening whistle grazed right by her ear. Roman fell to the ground with a thud behind her.

Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Author's Notes:

In case it's not obvious enough, this isn't the end. There's one more chapter in Volume 1. I almost called this chapter "Black" and the next chapter "White", sort of like what I did with "The Badge and the Burden", but I decided against that as to not confuse with the trailers. The next chapter is called "Wings", after the song that plays during the Volume 1 credits. I can only hope that that doesn't turn out to actually be an episode name later in Volume 2. If it does, I guess I'll figure something else out.


	8. Wings

Author's Notes:

And now you get to read my poor excuse for a fight scene. Don't worry, it gets to the funny bits again after this.

* * *

The second Blake heard Roman hit the ground she lept for her weapon. By the time she got to her feet, Yang and Sun were fighting by her side. Ren and Jaune were quick to follow. Blake almost got hit by an axe thrown by one of the soldiers, but the axe was shot out of the air by Ruby. Weiss projected a shield Glyph around the five combatants.

Blake saw the White Fang soldier who had shot her escaping into a maze of shipping containers. She raced after him.

Jaune was fighting two White Fang soldiers at once. One had a katana and the other had claws. He blocked the katana with his shield and fended off the clawed soldier with his sword. The swordsman lept over Jaune's shield. Jaune rolled through the area the swordsman had just been. The clawed man lunged to catch up with him and was crushed by his friend with the katana. Jaune then happily noted that Pyrrha had retrieved her shield and joined them in the battle.

Blake was in her element, the dark. She stalked through the corridors between shipping containers, searching for any barest signs of her prey. Her Aura detected danger and she narrowly avoided a bullet to the head. She looked over at where the shot had come from. There was nothing. She walked cautiously in that direction.

Ruby sniped another projectile out of the air before it could hit one of her friends. She turned briefly to see Penny simply standing in place. Ruby almost yelled at her, "Penny, If you can do anything to help that would be very nice right now."

Penny stepped backward, "I'm not sure I should, not if I don't have to."

Ruby exclaimed, "What? Then why did you even come with us?"

Penny started pacing, seeming extremely conflicted, "I don't know. I just... wanted to help."

Ruby shot another weapon out of a soldier's hands, "Then fight! I thought you said you were combat ready."

Penny winced, "I know. I am. But Mr. Luthor told me not to."

Ruby questioned over her shoulder, "Luthor? Luthor who? What do they have to do with anything?"

Penny turned away, "I shouldn't. I'm sorry."

Penny looked at Ruby one last time and then ran off into the night. Ruby yelled after her to try and get her to come back, "Penny! Where are you going? We need you!"

Penny was already gone.

* * *

Blake finally detected something, a shadow on top of one of the containers. She showed no signs of change in her behaviour as to not clue her opponent in on the fact that she had found him. She walked between two containers, knowing fully well that the soldier would try to ambush her from above. She prepared herself mentally to attack something above her.

As expected, the soldier silently dropped down on top of her from above. She simply sidestepped and kicked the place that she had just been, propelling the man into a nearby wall with the sound of bending metal.

Blake started running towards him. The soldier stood almost as quickly as he had been knocked down. He drew his weapon and fired three shots. The first missed. Blake dodged the second. The third planted itself in her right shoulder, right next to its sister bullet. Blake tried to attack with that arm before realizing that she could no longer move it. She switched her weapon to her other hand only moments before reaching the man.

She slammed him up against the dented wall behind him, lifting him into the air by his collarbone. She snarled at him. Then she hit him over the head with the handle of her weapon, knocking him unconscious. Once he was down she kicked him for good measure before locking him inside one of the shipping containers selected at random.

She left him for dead.

* * *

By the time Blake got back to the clearing where the others were, they had successfully fended off the forces of the White Fang. The Dust robbery had been a complete failure. Unfortunately, Blake's shoulder wasn't the only damage sustained. Jaune had broken his wrist and Nora had been shot in the leg.

Ruby walked up to Blake, "Blake! Where were you? We could have used your help back there."

Blake apologized, "I'm sorry. There was something I had to take care of."

Ruby pointed to her shoulder, "Are you ok there?"

Blake looked down at her injured arm and the two bullet wounds that were gradually sealing with dried blood, "Yes, I'm fine. I can't move it and there's no sensation, but I'm not bleeding out. How are Jaune and Nora doing?"

Ruby answered, "Jaune will be ok in a week or so. Nora might need to borrow my old wheelchair for a few months, but they'll both be fine given time to heal."

Blake nodded distractedly.

Sun walked up to Blake and said to her, "Well, This was fun and all, but I should really get going before the cops show up. They probably still know what I look like from… that thing… that you don't know I did."

Blake laughed, "Alright, well, I'll see you at the tournament."

Sun waved, "So long."

A few minutes after that the cops and medics showed up. They carried off the bodies, including Roman's. A doctor looked at Blake's shoulder and covered it with foam that turned hard as a rock when they gave it an electric signal.

The doctor told Blake, "Alright, that should hold for now. Make sure to get the cast replaced every other day for the next ten days. If it shows any signs of getting worse, see a doctor at once."

Blake responded, "Thank you."

Blake walked over to where Jaune was sitting, staring at his hand, now covered in hardened foam.

Blake asked him, "What are you thinking about?"

Jaune was startled by her. He looked up at her and took a moment to process what she had said, "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, we were lucky. You and Nora got shot, but we're lucky that none of us died out here. It could have ended a lot worse than it did."

Blake nodded, "You get used to it, eventually, the danger. At some point you either stop thinking about what might have happened, or you just become thankful for whatever ending you get."

Jaune looked at her, "Which one are you?"

Blake shook her head, "I never said I was used to it. Believe me, I'm just as petrified by all of this as you. I knew someone once, a long time ago. He got used to the violence. I didn't."

The group walked back to the school. They stopped by the Team CFVY dorm to pick up Clark from Velvet.

Ruby knocked on the door, "Velvet, are you in there? We're back."

Velvet opened the door, "Hi, I was just introducing Clark to the rest of my team."

Ruby looked nervously past her into the room with three other people in it, "Oh yeah? What did you say to them about him?"

Velvet eased her concern, "I told them that he's your cousin, visiting from Smallville. Isn't that right?"

Ruby nodded vigorously, "That's right, my cousin. Well I guess I can get him out of your hair."

Velvet smiled, "Ok, well I'm happy I could help out. I'll see you later, Ruby. Goodnight."

Teams RWBY and JNPR returned to their respective dorms. They slept as soundly as any of them had ever slept in their lives.

Then Clark started crying.

* * *

Elsewhere, a mysterious woman in a red dress watched a hospital bed in which Roman Torchwick was being kept on life support. Two others stood behind her.

She spoke to the unconscious form, "How very disappointing, Roman. We were expecting... more from you. But you can't die, not yet. We won't let you. We have big plans for you, Roman. And after we bring you back, all we will ask in return is… a little cooperation."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Ok, so I know absolutely nothing about medicine. I don't know how long a fractured shoulder takes to heal IRL. I don't know if it's possible to put someone on life support for a bullet to the head. And to be clear, Cinder is bringing Roman back scientifically. She isn't magic.

Now we're finally done with the events of Volume 1. I guess next time you can expect a food fight. Also, Neptune. Who doesn't love Neptune?


	9. Best Day Ever

Author's Notes:

This chapter took a long time to write. I had to do a lot of research to figure out the exact amount of time that passed between volumes. I also rewrote the food fight several times. I'm still not entirely happy with how it turned out, but ah well.

* * *

Tukson was about to get onto an airship to Vacuo. He had packed his bags and he had his ticket. Now it was time to leave. He allowed his bag to be searched by security. They wouldn't find anything. He allowed them to search his person. When he felt a tiny jab of pain in his leg he thought nothing of it.

Several hours later, he was on the airship and had crossed a fair bit of the ocean already. He ordered some coffee from the attendant and picked up a newspaper. He took his first sip of coffee around the same time he reached the mortuaries.

Then he saw his own name on the list. "James Tukson, suicide. Jumped off the Vale city docks into the ocean and drowned at 10:45 AM."

Tukson looked at his watch. It was 10:43. He started to feel nauseous. He threw the newspaper to the side and rushed into the airship's lavatory. He vomited violently several times into the toilet. When he looked, the toilet water was a vivid red. He collapsed to the ground just as the lavatory door opened.

A man wearing a Grimm mask leaned over and spoke to Tukson in his final moments, "Sodium Dibenthezal and gworm root extract, both are harmless when injected or ingested individually. When combined in the bloodstream, they become extremely acidic, disintegrating the heart and veins from the inside out. You only have a few moments left, so I'll keep this brief. The White Fang sends their regards to your family... Oh wait, that's right, we were your family. Then you betrayed us. I suppose that means we're simply returning the favor."

Tukson's body was dropped into the ocean mid-flight a matter of minutes later.

* * *

Sun and Neptune walked across the grounds of Beacon Academy.

Sun was narrating, "...and then she was held hostage. But then, her friends ricochet a bullet off a flying shield to hit the guy. Can you believe that?"

Neptune grinned, "Nice!"

Sun continued, "I know! right? And the best part is, she's a Faunus... But that's a secret."

Neptune nodded, "Got it."

A tomato hit the window behind where they were walking.

Sun responded, "You better. I just don't want to screw this up, you know? The people here are the coolest, no offense to you guys. They're just in here. I'm really excited for you to meet them. Be cool, ok?"

Neptune stood and smiled, "Dude."

Sun looked Neptune up and down and nodded, "Point taken."

Sun was reaching for the door handle when the wall exploded in their faces.

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Teams RWBY and JNPR had been eating lunch in the dining hall. Clark was at RWBY's table in a brand new stroller that they had gotten him the previous week.

Ruby slammed a giant binder down onto the table.

Yang looked at the binder labelled "Best Day Ever" with suspicion. She caught a piece of fruit in her mouth that had been tossed by Nora, "This oughta be good."

Ruby spoke to her team, "Look, guys, it's been a good two weeks, and our second semester is gonna be great. But classes start back up tomorrow. Before that happens, I want the four of us to come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has had, ever!"

Weiss shook her head, "Did you steal my binder for this?"

Yang put on her pun voice, "Well you know the old saying, binders keepers! Am I right?"

Yang was pelted by an apple from JNPR's table. She looked to see Nora, still in a wheelchair. Yang angrily threw the apple back.

Weiss stood and started to talk, "Well, I'm not sure whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store. But regardless, you're right. However we spend this last day, we should do it as a team. Besides, no need to have wasted a perfectly good binder. I for one, believe that-"

She was interrupted by a pie to the face.

The pie slid off and fell to the ground. She wiped the whipped cream off her face and looked over to the table where JNPR were sitting.

There was a moment of perfect silence and stillness, a calm before the storm.

Weiss picked up the tray of sandwiches in front of her and started hurling them one after another at her assailant. Soon the rest of Team RWBY joined in with whatever food they could get their hands on. JNPR flipped their table to act as cover, but RWBY simply relocated to another section of the table from which they could throw over JNPR's barrier.

Eventually JNPR decided to fight back. Jaune picked up a baguette. He charged out towards their opponent, deflecting sandwiches with his new makeshift sword.

Blake ran out and snatched up a string of sausage links with her off hand, her primary arm still being in the final stages of healing. She swung it towards Jaune at high speeds. He held up his bread and the links wrapped around it. Blake yanked on her end, pulling the baguette out of his grip. He picked up a tray from one of the tables just in time to block his own sword, now attached to the end of Blake's food chain.

Ruby looked over to make sure Clark was ok. Then she ran over to a table with a set of kabobs and started tossing them like javelins. They were easily redirected by Pyrrha. Pyrrha charged out and grabbed Blake's swinging baguette out of the air. She levered it to throw Blake straight at Ruby, causing a collision between the two teammates.

Yang was about to go after Pyrrha when Jaune hurled a metal tray at her head. She dodged and kicked a cabbage at him off the table. Jaune punched the cabbage right back at her and it knocked her off her perch. Jaune was about to move in closer when Weiss swiped at him with a swordfish. He ducked under her blow and grabbed her makeshift rapier, using her momentum to throw her off her feet.

Ruby asked Blake, "Are you ok?"

Blake cringed, "My arm is hurting from the impact. I think I should stop."

Ruby smiled, "Don't worry. I'll beat 'em for the both of us."

Ruby stood to see Weiss and Yang also off their feet. She charged at Jaune, only to be intercepted by Ren, wielding two bananas. He threw one banana at her. She ducked under it. Ren squeezed the second banana, projecting pulp in her direction. Ruby stomped on one end of one of the wooden floorboards, raising the other end to take the majority of the hit for her. She then slid under Ren's legs, tripping him in the process.

Weiss stood up and saw Pyrrha still standing. She grabbed a pepper shaker and ran towards the redhead. Pyrrha disconnected the sausage links from her baguette and got ready for a fight. Weiss dodged Pyrrha's first swing and thrust the shaker towards her face, temporarily blinding the spartan. Pyrrha lashed out blindly with both hands, knocking the pepper shaker out of Weiss' hands.

The shaker flew through the air until it finally shattered to the ground, right next to Clark's stroller. There was a cloud of pepper that permeated the air.

Clark sneezed.

Sun and Neptune stood, shocked. The wall that had once been between them and the inside of the lunchroom was now no more. Sun glanced around to try and identify the source of the explosion, and could find none.

Neptune asked him, "So does this happen a lot?"

Sun answered, "This is the first time that's happened."

Neptune nodded, "Huh."

Glynda walked past the two boys and practically screamed at the group, "Who did this!?"

Teams RWBY and JNPR looked between themselves. Finally, after a few seconds, Ruby stepped forward.

Ruby spoke to the teacher whose face was turning red with anger, "It was me. I blew up the cafeteria."

Glynda looked around at the demolished architecture, "Why?"

Ruby answered timidly, "There was a food fight. It escalated."

Glynda seemed ready to expel her on the spot before Ozpin interrupted her from behind, "Two weeks unconditional detention. Do I make myself clear, Ms. Rose?"

Ruby nodded, "Yes sir."

Teams RWBY and JNPR ran off. Sun and Neptune followed.

Glynda sighed, "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world. You give them a slap on the wrist for destroying the cafeteria that has been in this school since before they were even born. I ate in that cafeteria when I was just a student."

Ozpin tried his best to ease her stress, "Calm down. You're starting to take things personally."

Glynda nodded, "I'll admit to that. It's hard for me not to. They have so much potential that they just aren't utilizing in any of the right ways."

Ozpin responded, "They will, when their day comes. For now, they're still just children. I know it's easy to forget that. Four of them have already sustained major injuries. They're practically raising that child out of their dorms. But that doesn't change the fact that there isn't one among them over the age of 18. We all had our share of wasted potential at that age. We all made our share of poor decisions. At least let it be their poor decisions to make. Let them learn from their mistakes. After all, being able to make mistakes without putting lives on the line is a children's luxury. It isn't one that they'll have forever."

* * *

Roman awoke in a hospital bed, hooked up to several machines that were beeping and pumping various fluids. He looked around the room and immediately saw the woman in the red dress, Cinder.

Roman asked, "What happened? Why am I here?"

Cinder laughed, "You don't remember? I suppose some minor brain damage was to be expected. You were shot in the head, Roman. You've been dead for the past two weeks."

Roman put his hand up to his head and felt a bandage, "Who?"

Cinder answered, "Remember Red? the girl who almost stopped one of our robberies several months ago? Well her real name is Ruby, and she has friends."

Roman waved it off, "No no no, not who shot me. Who took over for me while I was out?"

A brown skinned girl with green hair stepped out of the shadows, "Hello."

Roman looked around, "Emerald. So where's your boyfriend? You two are never too far away from each other. He's gotta be here somewhere."

A boy emerged from a corner of the room, "Very observant of you. And by the way, the name's Mercury."

Cinder spoke to Roman, "But now that you're awake, you can take over again, and right on time to progress with Phase 2."

* * *

Author's Notes:

So we finally got the Super-Sneeze! as mentioned in the description. Took me long enough. Then again, I knew I wanted it to mirror Ruby's sneeze, except with ordinary pepper instead of dust. The food fight was the easiest way to do that.


	10. Welcome to Beacon

Author's Notes:

I've now written every chapter up to Dance Dance Infiltration. The reason it took me so long to release this chapter is because I had a three-day-long 18th birthday party that took an additional day or two to prepare for. It was a busy week. This week is another busy week for me. That being said, I'll try to get another chapter edited and out by the time World of Remnant 2 comes out.

Speaking of the new explanatory mini-series, I'm writing versions of them for this story that I'm calling "World of Krypton". Expect exposition dumps, lots of info Superman fans will already know, some stuff they won't know mixed in, also subplots, lots of subplots.

* * *

Ozpin watched the arrival of airship after airship from Atlas.

Glynda commented, "Luthor certainly loves to bring his work with him whenever he travels."

Ozpin nodded in agreement. A beep told him that someone was there to see him. He turned around and let them in.

A young bald man wearing a white coat and a single black glove entered the office, "Ozpin."

Ozpin greeted him, "Hello, general."

The man laughed, "Please, drop the formalities. Call me Lex."

Glynda exited the room as Ozpin spoke, "So, Lex, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?"

General Luthor sat across from Ozpin, "Well with you hosting the tournament I thought it would be a good chance for us to catch up."

Ozpin responded, "The small fleet outside my window speaks of another motive."

Luthor laughed, "You and I both know why I brought those men."

Ozpin sighed, "This is the Vytal Festival. It is a time to celebrate peace and unity. Shows of power like this are only going to give off the wrong impression. The best thing we can do is to train our students to be the very best that they can be."

Lex stood and turned to walk out, "And I plan to do so. But I'm a busy man. I only have one question to ask of you before I leave. Do you honestly believe that your children can win a war?"

Ozpin watched the general leave before giving his answer, "I hope they never have to."

* * *

Team RWBY sat in the library playing "Remnant: The Game". Clark's stroller was next to Ruby.

Ruby pointed, "Yang Xiao Long! Prepare your armies for battle! I deploy the Atlesian air fleet! I get to fly right over your Ursi and attack your wall directly."

Clark pointed at Yang's hand, "Trap card!"

Ruby smirked, "And now I know not to use my repair bonus this turn. Thank you, Clark."

Yang growled, "This game is no fun when you just win every game by cheating. Just think about what kind of example you're making for Clark."

Ruby stuck her tongue out, "Nice try, sis, but it looks like I just broke down your defenses. Your turn, Weiss."

Weiss looked at her cards for a few seconds, "Why doesn't Clark just take over for me? He probably understands the rules better than I do by now anyway."

Yang pointed to the game box, "It says only for ages 8 and up."

Sun stepped up to the table, "I could play a round."

Neptune commented, "Aren't libraries usually for reading?"

Ren agreed from across the room, "Thank you!"

Neptune held out his hand to Weiss, "I'm Neptune. It's a pleasure to meet you, snow angel."

Weiss was noticeably flattered, "I'm Weiss. It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Jaune almost screamed from the other table, "What? Oh come on!"

Blake stood up from her seat, "Sun, do you want to take over for me? I don't particularly feel like playing games right now." She left without another word.

Nora looked off to where Blake had gone and then turned to Sun, "Women, am I right?"

Sun stared out at the door to the library, "Totally."

As Blake walked, she remembered a conversation she had had with Ozpin two weeks ago, the day after the night at the docks.

* * *

Ozpin sat down at a table in a room not entirely unlike an interrogation chamber, "Now, I'm sure that after an eventful evening of thwarting attempted robbery yesterday, you probably just want to take a few days off, relax in your dorm. That being said, I was hoping we could talk for a moment."

Blake sat in the other chair and nodded, "Of course."

Ozpin continued, "Wonderful. I wanted to talk about the entrance exam. Most applicants have to spend years training at one of the other combat schools. You passed with flying colors without any prior formal education on record."

Blake answered the unstated question, "I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you don't know how to fight, you don't survive."

Ozpin nodded, "Yes, and you certainly know how to survive."

The room remained silent for several seconds.

Ozpin asked another question, "Blake, what happened to the man who shot you?"

Blake lied, "I don't know. I never identified him in the crowd."

Ozpin's eyes showed his disappointment, "Several of your teammates told me that they saw you running off, abandoning them in the battle to follow a single fleeing soldier. Are you telling me there was nothing special about that man you were chasing?"

Blake briefly considered coming clean, "I saw a Scroll on his belt. He would have called in reinforcements. We would have been overwhelmed if I hadn't stopped him."

Ozpin sipped from his mug, "I see. And where is he now?"

Blake said, "I don't know. I destroyed his Scroll, but then he escaped. My guess would be he's probably found his way back to the White Fang by now."

Ozpin sighed, "Ms. Belladonna, revenge is said to be best served cold for a reason. It leaches the warmth out of everything around it until the life of its host is left as an empty shell of what it once was, or could be. Revenge can only be served cold because no warmth can survive in its presence. I hope you realize that what I'm telling you now I say from experience. I know how hard it can be to let go of a vendetta."

Blake nodded, "Yes, I know."

Ozpin stood and started to exit, "Very well. Thank you for your time. And please, if you ever need to talk to me about anything, absolutely anything at all, I only request of you one thing, don't hesitate to ask."

* * *

Blake's memories were interrupted by her arrival at the dorm. She stepped inside and collapsed into her bed. She imagined the screams of the man she had locked in a storage container. She pictured him awaking, scared, hopeless, doomed by her to a slow and painful death by starvation.

She briefly considered the possibility that he might still be alive after two weeks. Then she instantly began to regret every passing moment that she wasn't rushing to try and find and release him. But something stayed her feet. Something inside her stopped her from even moving a finger to save someone's life. Could it really be something as simple as revenge? Was this the cold the Ozpin had been talking about?

Ruby, Weiss and Yang were walking back to their dorm. Yang carried their board game. Ruby rolled Clark's stroller in front of her.

A girl in a school uniform with dark skin and green hair stopped and leaned over to get a better look at Clark, "Oh my goodness! Who is this little bundle of joy?"

Ruby smiled, "That's my cousin, Clark."

A boy walked up behind the girl, "I'm sorry, but could you help us? She's always getting lost. We're looking for the Haven transfer student dorms."

Ruby pointed them the right way, "You're actually in the wrong building. It's just the next building to the east from here."

Another girl with glowing red eyes spoke to her, "Thank you for your help. Maybe we'll see you around."

Ruby waved after the three as they left, "Alright, welcome to Beacon!"

Mercury turned to Emerald, "That was a nice performance back there. I almost believed that you actually cared about that baby."

Emerald laughed, "What, are you crazy? I hate kids."

The two followed Cinder to their new dorm.

* * *

Author's Notes:

So we've got a Luthor. I considered making him Lionel Luthor instead, like in Smallville. In the end I decided it wouldn't be a bad thing if Lex was a bit older than Clark. To be clear, Lex in this story is only late-20s. If we learn more backstory on Ironwood I might have to figure something out. But I'll worry about that when it happens.

Also, I'd like to point out if I haven't already that Team RWBY have no idea that Cinder and Co are still out there. As far as they knew, Roman was top dog in that whole operation, and as far as they know, Roman's dead. They have no reason to investigate because they believe that they already stopped it at the battle of the docks. Remember when I said that things would be a bit more difficult for our heroes? Yeah, that's a thing.


	11. A Minor Hiccup

Author's Notes:

This chapter is one of the first harbingers of things to come. There are a few things hinted at here that might cause trouble later. Anyone who can identify some of them in a review will get nothing. But just imagine how awesome it'll feel to know you were right later on!

* * *

Team RWBY were in their dorm.

Ruby looked over at Clark, sitting comfortably in his stroller, "So we should probably talk about how Clark sneezed the side off an entire building."

Yang commented, "I mean, we should have expected that more abilities would pop up over time. We didn't expect him to be able to fly or see through walls either."

Weiss asked, "But where does it end? How many more things can Clark do that we don't know about yet?"

Ruby thought out loud, "Well lets try and think about this logically. The first power was his laser face. He took out the Nevermore the first day we found him. Next came the flight, strength and invulnerability. He flew across the room and caught the bed before it could crush me. After that was the X-Ray vision. We used that to find Blake. Now he gets… what do we call this anyway? Super-sneeze?"

Weiss shook her head, "That's it. I give up. There's no pattern. For all we know he could learn to read minds next."

Yang tapped a finger against her chin, "I don't think so. So far all his abilities have been purely physical in nature. I don't think he's going to be transforming furniture into frogs or painting the future anytime soon. More likely something along the lines of Super-Hearing, or maybe ice powers."

Ruby nodded, "Well I suppose the most we can do is just to expect more to show up at some point and prepare to face the consequences once they do."

Weiss looked over at Blake, "You've been awfully quiet."

Blake glanced over, "I'm just a bit tired still. It's early."

Weiss frowned, "Even if that were true, you've been quieter than usual ever since that night at the docks."

Blake looked away, "It's nothing."

Yang exclaimed, "Bullshit!"

Ruby calmed the situation slightly, "Listen, guys, if Blake doesn't want to talk about it we shouldn't force her to. I'm sure that if she needs our help, she'll ask, right Blake?"

Blake nodded, "Of course."

Ruby continued, "There ya go. Now that that's settled, we have a few errands to run today. Someone needs to go to the city to pick up more supplies for Clark. Someone else needs to stop by the CCT and research any other meteors that might have found their way to Remnant. A third group needs to go check on Clark's spaceship and make sure no-one's found it yet."

Sun said from his position hanging at the window, "I'm sorry, did you just say spaceship?"

Everyone looked over at the monkey boy in the window.

Yang asked him, "How long have you been there?"

Sun flipped into the room, "Obviously not long enough. Why does Clark have a spaceship, and more importantly, why don't I have one?"

Team RWBY exchanged a silent conversation weighing the pros and cons of letting someone else in on their secret.

Ruby said after several seconds of silent debate, "Because, Sun, you are not an alien. Clark is."

Sun gave a thumbs up, "Coolness. Hey Neptune! Did you hear that? Clark's an alien!"

Team RWBY stuck their heads out the window and saw Neptune standing on a very thin ledge.

Neptune looked down, "Sweet. That's really cool. Hey, can I come in? It's really high up here and I kind of maybe don't want to die."

Once everyone was inside, Team RWBY explained the whole story to Sun and Neptune.

Sun nodded, "That's awesome! Can I go with whoever's checking in on the spaceship? I wanna see that for myself."

Ruby agreed, "Sure, you and Blake can do that. She's good with the wilderness, so you two are unlikely to get lost. Weiss, you and I can go research meteors. Your access to Schnee records should help with that. Yang, Neptune, supplies are up to you. Yang is the only legal driver here."

Blake complained, "We would have money for public transit if someone didn't insist on buying all the best imported soaps from halfway across the planet."

Weiss defended herself, "You know I have an allergy. My skin gets itchy if I use the regular kind. I just wish I hadn't used up my allowance for the year last semester buying things for Clark."

The four set out on their individual objectives.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss arrived at the CCT tower. Ruby was about to send a message to the others when she dropped her Scroll. It bounced across the floor until it landed at someones' feet.

Penny picked up the Scroll and carried it over to Ruby, "You dropped this."

Ruby immediately started to question her, "Penny!? Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks! You ran off in the middle of the battle without even saying goodbye."

Penny looked nervously side to side, "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I should go. Goodbye."

Penny started to walk off.

Ruby quickly turned to Weiss, "You keep going and investigate meteors without me. I've got to see if I can help her."

Weiss tried to stop her, but Ruby was already running, "Wait! Ruby! We don't even know if she needs help!"

Ruby eventually caught up with Penny, "Penny! What happened that night? We were all together and then you just disappeared! Where did you go?"

Penny cringed, "I'm sorry. My father asked me not to venture out to far. He worries a lot. I was asked not to talk to you, or Weiss, or Blake, or Yang, anyone really."

Ruby asked, "Was your dad really that upset?"

Penny corrected, "No, it wasn't my father."

She was interrupted by the sound of a nearby demonstration. The two wandered over to watch.

A holographic image of Lex Luthor stood onstage, "The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. But the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and fine just isn't good enough anymore. Presenting the Metallo 200!"

Several doors opened on the stage and a new line of white android soldiers stepped out for the world to see.

Luthor continued his speech, "Smarter, sleeker, and with a revolutionary new fuel source that guarantees over a decade of continuous operation with zero maintenance. These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone. Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing people from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that undoubtedly require... a human touch. So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Lexor Warsuit."

The holographic image of Lex was replaced with an alternate image of Lex Luthor wearing a giant green suit of mechanical armor. He struck a few battle poses in the warsuit for the cameras.

A pair of guards noticed Penny and she immediately started running.

Ruby ran after her, "Penny! Where are you going?"

Ruby followed Penny into an alleyway. The two narrowly escaped the guards, but in the process Ruby wound up in the middle of oncoming traffic. Penny lept and pushed Ruby out of the way. She then stopped a large truck in its tracks with her bare hands.

Ruby couldn't help but feel that she had seen this kind of power before.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Ok, so I guess without Penny's lying quirk there isn't really any reason for the chapter to be called what it is. Ah well.


	12. Painting the Town

Author's Notes:

Next chapter, "World of Krypton: Kryptonite".

* * *

Penny started running again and Ruby followed. They finally came to a stop in another alleyway.

Ruby finally gathered her thoughts enough to ask, "Penny, how did you do that?"

Penny looked around nervously, "No, you wouldn't understand."

Ruby smiled, "Let me at least try?"

Penny looked at Ruby, "You're my friend, right? You promise that you're my friend?"

Ruby assured her, "I promise."

Penny showed her hands. They looked like they were made of liquid metal. They were dented, but gradually reshaping back into form.

Penny explained, "Ruby, I'm not a real girl. Most girls were born, but I was found. I am a Brain InterActive Construct, the first known intelligent extraterrestrial object. I'm not a person."

Ruby took Penny's hands in her own, "Of course you are. You may be made of freaky metal, but do you really think that gives you any less of a right to call yourself a person?"

Penny smiled, "I suppose not."

Ruby sat down on the ground, "Now, tell me more about where you're from. You said you were found?"

Penny nodded, "That's right. My father found me inside a crystal meteor that crashed several years ago. My father is very sweet. I'm sure you'd love him."

Ruby asked, "And he raised you all on his own?"

Penny answered, "Well, almost. He had some help from Mr. Luthor."

Ruby questioned, "The general?"

Penny confirmed, "That's right. Mr. Luthor didn't want me to leave home, but my father let me come to the Vytal Festival to fight in the tournament."

Ruby thought for a moment, "Do you know anything about who made you?"

Penny shook her head, "Not very much. I know that they weren't human. I think my father knows more, but Mr. Luthor won't let him tell me."

Ruby decided to take a chance, "Can you shoot lasers?"

Penny tilted her head, "Not to my knowledge, no. I can reshape my body into other forms, look like other people if I want to. You already saw my strength and durability, and my self-repair function."

Ruby asked another question, "Can you fly?"

Penny leaned in towards Ruby questioningly, "No, I can't fly. These questions are oddly specific."

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry, I just got a little overexcited there."

Penny smiled, "Quite alright. My personality profile on you says that you like technology, and you just met the most sophisticated piece of technology on the planet. Excitement is a foreseeable conclusion."

The two guards from the demonstration finally caught up with them. Penny quickly lifted Ruby and hid her in a nearby dumpster. She went away with the guards and Ruby was left with many more questions than answers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake and Sun arrived at the caves where Clark's spaceship was being stored. They entered the caverns and traversed into the depths, finally reaching a giant chamber lit only by the crystal meteor itself.

Sun looked around in wonder, "Woah."

Blake looked at the glowing green crystal in the center of the room, "Well, it's still here. It looks like our work is done."

Sun held up a hand, "Now wait a second. If this thing's a spaceship, it's gotta have a computer or something, right?"

Blake raised an eyebrow, "And if it does?"

Sun looked at it, "then maybe we can access it, find out something about where Clark is from."

Blake considered it for a moment, "Perhaps you're right. But we should call Ren. He's the one who got the antigravity working."

Blake messaged Ren to meet them at the caves over her Scroll.

* * *

Elsewhere, a meeting was being held by the White Fang.

A leader stepped up on stage, "Thank you all for coming. For those of you who are joining us for the first time, allow me to introduce a very special comrade. I can assure you, he is the key to what we have fought for for so long."

A woman with pink and brown hair rolled a bed on wheels out onto the stage. The man in the bed then pushed a button that mechanically propped up the back so that he was in a sitting position. The man was no kind of Faunus, merely a formerly deceased criminal.

Roman held up his hand, "Please, hold the applause. Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst. Case and point! So I can understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or better yet, killed! But I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy, the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty rotten humans that run our kingdoms. Government, military, even the schools, they're all to blame for your lot in life, as well as my current condition. And they're all pests that need to be dealt with. Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room.

Roman gave a signal and a large curtain was pulled down to reveal a Lexor Warsuit donning the White Fang insignia on the shoulder.

He continued his speech, "As some of you might have heard, this right here is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few. Now, many of your brothers and sisters have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay in the city, that's fine... But, if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?"

* * *

Back at the caves, Ren arrived to help out with handling the spaceship.

Ren asked, "Alright, so why am I out here?"

Blake answered, "You're the only one who knows how the interface works. We want to try and access the computer records and learn more about where Clark is from."

Ren looked between Blake, Sun and the meteor, "This seems like a stupendously bad idea."

Sun had a huge grin on his face, "Oh yeah, totally. We're gonna die. It'll be awesome."

Ren looked between them again before responding hesitantly, "Alright then. Let's give it a shot."

The three walked up to the floating crystalline structure. When they got close it automatically hovered down to an altitude that they could access. Ren touched one of the outcroppings. Several other crystals lit up in response.

Ren looked over at the others, "I'm not sure we'd even know if we did access the records. The chances of them being in a language that we could recognize as communication are slim enough, let alone a language we could understand."

Blake gave it a second of thought, "No, I think the odds are better than you're suggesting. Clark looks human, which suggests some correlation between his species and ours. It might be listening to us right now, figuring out the syntax of our language so that it can communicate with us later."

Ren seemed suspicious, "Those are some pretty big leaps of logic you're taking, but I guess it's worth trying."

After several hours of slow experimentation, Ren, with a little help from Blake, determined patterns to the way that the controls lit up and operated. Finally, near the end of the day, he spoke over his shoulder to Sun, "Ok, I think we've figured out how to access the records."

Sun awoke with a start, "Huh? What? What's going on?"

Blake caught him up, "You fell asleep while we were studying the spaceship."

Sun looked around, "Oh yeah, the spaceship. So you think you can get it to talk?"

Ren slowly shook his head, "It's a glowing rock, not a murder suspect. But yes, I think I can get it to try and communicate with us. If we understand it or not is another matter entirely."

Sun bounded over to join the other two, "Cool! Let's do it!"

Ren took a deep breath, "Alright, here goes."

He began reorganizing the various crystals between the slots in the side of the structure. Every time he touched or removed or replaced one, a set of others would light up in response. After several minutes he put the final crystal into place.

A giant hologram of a middle-aged man with white hair and even whiter clothing appeared above the spaceship. It shrank in size until it was only as tall as a normal person. Then it relocated to the cavern floor next to the meteor, in front of the three students.

The hologram spoke, "I am Jor-El."

* * *

Author's Notes:

So much to talk about here. Firstly, Penny. In this story, I'm going with a variation on the Smallville version of Brainiac. If you haven't seen Smallville, think Terminator 2. Penny's plotline here is going to be very much tied to Penny's plotline in the series. So don't expect a resolution anytime soon. Also, Ruby still promised to keep Penny's secret. I just cut that bit to prevent excessive rehashing.

Secondly, Jor-El. For those of you that like to visualize as you read, imagine the original Donnerverse Marlon Brando Jor-El, except with the voice of Terence Stamp, the Jor-El from Smallville. I cannot stress this enough when I say that you do not allow yourself to picture Russell Crowe as Jor-El when you are reading my story, no matter how much you didn't hate Man of Steel.

Finally, Torchwick and company remain in the shadows, unknown to even Team RWBY. I legitimately have no idea how much I'm screwing everyone over by doing that. I guess we'll find out as Volume 2 progresses.

Also, in case you hadn't figured it out, the World of Krypton chapters are going to correspond to conversations with Jor-El. How important those conversations wind up being will vary. The next one... well, it's a doozie.


	13. World of Krypton: Kryptonite

Author's Notes:

I apologize to those of you that are tired of hearing the same old comic book origin stories over and over again in different media. This chapter might seem somewhat familiar to anyone who has prior Superman exposure. It also has some very key differences from other Superman origins that will prove important later on. So, unfortunately, I can't recommend that anyone skip it.

Then again, if you're sick of hearing Superman's origin you really shouldn't be reading a Superman fanfic.

* * *

Ren stared at the hologram for several seconds, "Well, it seems to speak english."

The hologram responded, "The spaceship has been observing its surroundings ever since it arrived. It analyzed wireless transmissions and translated my messages into the local language that you would be most likely to understand."

Blake spoke to the hologram, "So, you can answer questions. If you don't mind, we have some things we'd like to ask about where you came from."

Jor-El looked at Blake, "Certainly. What would you like to know?"

Sun asked, "Alright, well, let's start with… Where did you come from?"

Jor-El turned towards Sun, "I, and my son, are from the planet Krypton. It is a planet approximately 7 light years from here. It is 21 times the size and 83 times the density of your world. It was once home to a powerful civilization, centuries ahead of your own."

Ren questioned, "Was once? It's not anymore?"

Jor-El confirmed, "No. The planet Krypton was destroyed approximately two of your years prior to my son's arrival on this world."

Blake looked carefully at the hologram, "Your son? Do you mean the baby we found inside the spaceship?"

Jor-El nodded, "Yes, Kal-El, the last son of Krypton. I was a scientist on Krypton. I warned the rest of my kind that their mining operations had to end to prevent dire consequences. When they ignored my plea, I built a vessel, just big enough for my newborn child. He was sent to the nearest planet with biologically similar intelligent life."

Ren commented, "Well I guess that explains why he looks human."

Jor-El looked to Ren, "Indeed. A visually comparable species was a necessity in order for him to be accepted into his new home. Genetic compatibility was an unexpected, yet not entirely unwelcome bonus. I was lucky. If I hadn't found your world, my second choice would have been far more distant."

Blake returned to a previous topic, "You said mining operations were responsible for the destruction of your planet. Did Krypton have Dust?"

Jor-El closed his eyes and the image flickered momentarily, "Researching… Dust, crystalline elemental energy propellant, found in four base forms as well as many hybrid types." The hologram paused for several seconds before continuing, "Interesting…"

Sun indicated for him to continue, "What is it?"

Jor-El looked worried, "Yes, what you call Dust, we called Kryptonite. They are merely two aspects of the same element. It was the mining of Kryptonite from the planet core that eventually caused Krypton to destabilize. The remaining Kryptonite in the mantle was detonated, splintering our world into pieces no bigger than one of your airships. Further research notifies me that similar mining is planned to occur on this world in the next several months. Is your planet similarly unaware of the dangers involved as mine was?"

Blake grew an expression of horror, "They have no idea."

Ren sat down to think, "I had heard about the Schnee core mining project. I didn't know that they were so close to implementation. How long do we have until Remnant is destabilized?"

Jor-El did his best to answer, "By my estimations, based on classified files from the Schnee database and the approximate rarity of Dust on your planet, catastrophic ignition will occur in two years, nine months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 23 minutes and 52.355 seconds."

Sun swallowed, "Guys? Did we just find out about the end of the world?"

Blake turned and started to walk out of the cave in a hurry, "We have to tell Weiss. She might be able to prevent her father from taking this any farther than it's already gone."

As Ren turned to follow her, Jor-El spoke to him, "Lie Ren, I would request that you deactivate my program while you are absent. Boredom is truly one of the worst afflictions known to science, and unfortunately not one to which I am immune."

Ren turned around and smiled at the hologram, "Of course. Thank you for your help. You may have just saved our planet from extinction."

He removed one of the crystals and placed it sideways on top of the control panel before leaving.

* * *

Earlier that day, Weiss had entered the CCT to research any other meteors that might have landed on Remnant.

She entered the elevator and spoke to the computer, "I'd like to go to the database archives please."

The elevator answered, "Absolutely! Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?"

Weiss did as it requested.

It beeped and then starting moving down, "Perfect! Thank you Miss Schnee."

Weiss pounded on the panel, "Excuse me! I wanted to go to the archives. That's up from here, not down. You're going the wrong way!"

The computer took a moment to respond, "Destination correction initiated. Please confirm your previously stated floor to ensure no more complications."

Weiss spoke slowly and clearly, "Database archives."

The computer beeped before responding, "Sub-basement confirmed. Have a nice day!"

Once Weiss had finally found her way to the right floor, she was directed towards a station where she could work. She pulled up a complete list of extraterrestrial objects to enter the atmosphere in the last century. There were several thousand results. She then narrowed it down to only the objects that were at least partially crystalline. That narrowed it down to 204 results. That was a manageable number.

She went down the list, one by one, reading each case. If one looked promising, she would go into the details.

One case she read involved a green glowing crystal that had fallen in a crop field. The farmer had had it made into an engagement ring. His wife had developed cancer in her hands several decades later. Medical professionals all agreed that the ring had been very slightly radioactive. Weiss noted to herself to not spend too much time around Clark's spaceship in the future.

Another story she read was about a Boarbatusk that had swallowed a Dust-infused meteor the size of a peanut. It had grown huge and become stronger and more durable than almost any natural kind of Grimm known. It had taken six fully trained huntsmen as many hours to take it down. Weiss figured the stone in its belly probably hadn't been examined closely enough to determine that it wasn't actually Dust.

One of the more intriguing stories involved a meteor shower in Atlas only three years ago. Every single meteor had been tracked down and rounded up by Lex Luthor. He had also overseen the construction of a military installation around the crashsite of one of the largest of the meteors. Passersby had observed a green glow coming from the military base at night.

With all these accounts, Weiss couldn't help but think that Clark might not be the only one of his kind.

After several hours she had a short list of thirteen primary candidates. She left the tower with confidence that her job was done.

* * *

Author's Notes:

So it'll be a while until the next World of Krypton. Still, I'm not gonna keep y'all waiting to hear the topic until the last minute. I'll go ahead and tell you so that in the meantime you can speculate to your hearts content.

Coming (not so) Soon!

World of Krypton: Kandor

Until then, Team RWBY has a planet to save. Not to mention, Cinder and Torchwick are still out there. Looks like they've got quite a lot to do. Let's hope nothing else happens to make things that much more interesting for them...


	14. Extracurricular

Author's Notes:

I really hope my predictions about Weiss' dad are accurate. My portrayal of Velvet seems to be holding up pretty well still, so that's good. In other news, it's looking like episodes 8 and 9 might amount to almost four chapters between the two of them. Volume 2 is almost certainly going to add up to more chapters than Volume 1. Yay.

* * *

Ruby got back to the school only a few hours after Penny had left her in the dumpster. She dropped by JNPR's dorm to pick up Clark and then went back to her own dorm to get some sleep.

She was awakened not too long afterwards by Blake's arrival along with Sun and Ren.

Blake stormed across the room, "Ruby, where's Weiss?"

Ruby rubbed her eyes, still tired, "I don't know. She was at the CCT researching meteors."

Blake kicked a wall in frustration, "Damn it! We already checked there. Ruby, we have to find Weiss. If we don't, the consequences will be unlike anything this world has ever known."

Ruby gave a questioning look, "What kind of consequences are we talking about here? Did someone find Clark's ship?"

Ren explained, "Ruby, if we don't find Weiss, there might not be a Remnant for very much longer."

Blake clarified, "We accessed the records of Clark's spaceship. His homeworld was destroyed by his people mining Dust from their planet's core. The Schnee Dust Company has plans to start drilling into the planet core in only a matter of months. After that we only have two years before-"

Sun interrupted, "BOOM! No more Remnant."

Ruby stood, "Alright then. There's no time to waste."

She walked over and put Clark in his stroller before asking, "Clark, can you find Weiss for us?"

Clark pointed to the open door, in which Weiss stood.

Weiss looked at the group, "What's going on? Why are you looking for me?"

Blake explained the situation to her, "Weiss, you have to go to the CCT right now."

Weiss was confused, "But I just got back from the CCT!"

The situation was explained to her in detail. By the end she was practically running out the door to get back to the tower and call her father. Yang and Neptune returned not too long after Weiss had left. The looming disaster was conveyed to them as well.

* * *

Weiss returned several hours later with a dire look about her.

Blake walked up to her, "What is it?"

Weiss was pale, "He won't stop the mining project. I told him what was going to happen and he didn't believe me!"

Yang asked, "Isn't there any way that you can get him to listen?"

Weiss sat down and thought, "Maybe. There could be a way. It might not work."

Blake said, "If there's any chance, any at all, you have to try."

Weiss nodded, "Yes, you're right."

She started to stand up and head towards the door.

Ruby stood with her, "What are you going to do?"

Weiss answered, "I'm going to take the first airship to Atlas and speak to him in person."

Yang questioned, "How long will you be gone?"

Weiss shook her head, "As long as it takes to convince him. I'll stay until the end of everything if I have to. There's nothing else I can do. The earliest that I might be back is in a few weeks. I'll miss the tournament, the dance. But that's a small price to pay."

Ruby hugged her partner, "Keep in touch, ok?"

Weiss hesitantly returned the hug, "I will. I'll message you all every day. We'll talk so much you'll be sick of me."

Yang smiled, "Sounds like a plan. Oh, and Weiss?"

Weiss looked up at the blonde brawler, "Yes?"

Yang put a hand on her shoulder, "You may be on a mission to save the world, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still enjoy the trip. Make sure to have some fun for me, if not for yourself."

Blake expressed all her emotions, her hope, her fear, her caring, her pride, all through her eyes as she spoke, "Take care Weiss."

The heiress left her dorm for what could quite possibly be the last time. She left Beacon, Vale, and her entire life behind her. It was her responsibility now. She had to stop the end of the world.

* * *

But Beacon didn't stop after she left. Preparations for the festival continued as planned. When Team CFVY took longer than expected on a mission, Yang and Nora took over organizing the school dance. Sparring matches became increasingly competitive. Pyrrha singlehandedly took on the whole of Team CRDL.

But none of that was what interested Mercury Black. While everyone else watched the match, Mercury watched a girl named Ruby Rose, and more specifically, the stroller she took with her everywhere. Mercury wondered why the baby had been here for so long. What made him so special?

Clark Rose had earned himself many names, the Baby of Beacon, Ruby's Shadow, the Man of Tomorrow, RWBYsaurus Rex. The name that interested Mercury the most was none of those. He had only ever heard it said once, whispered, when they thought no-one was listening, "Superman".

Back at his dorm with Emerald and Cinder, he reported his findings on all of the students he had observed.

Mercury hesitated to mention his hunch, "There's something else."

Cinder looked up from her sewing, "What?"

Mercury paused, "The baby that Ruby takes with her everywhere, Clark, I think there's something… different about him, something special."

Emerald laced her words with venomous sarcasm, "What, do you think he's the chosen one? He's here to ruin our plans and destroy us all?"

Mercury shook his head, "No, nothing like that. I can't quite put my finger on it. Something just doesn't quite fit. He's supposed to be her cousin, yet I can't ever remember a single time when he wasn't at Beacon. It seems like Team RWBY is hiding something... something big."

Cinder went back to her sewing, "Well if you pick up on anything bigger than your gut instinct, let me know. Until then, we will continue as planned. Understood?"

Mercury nodded, "Of course. As planned."

Cinder smiled, "Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Weiss won't be gone for two years. I like her too much to write her out of the story for that long. In fact, odds are she'll be back before the end of Volume 2, probably. And back in Vale, Team RWBY's bad cover story is starting to fall apart. Mercury is just the first one to start putting it together. Or maybe he isn't the first...

I'll try and get all the chapters up to the second World of Krypton edited and released by the time the third World of Remnant comes out. Hopefully I'll be mostly caught up by the end of Volume 2.


End file.
